From “GP2 engine” to world champions – albeit ‘only’ in the drivers’ championship – in the space of six years. The story of the last adventure of the Honda in Formula 1, with the role of engineer, it would be worthy of a Hollywood movie. The Japanese house, mocked and mocked in the early years of the hybrid era during the collaboration with McLaren, managed at the end of last season to interrupt – with the decisive help of Red Bull and Max Verstappen – the dominance of Mercedes on the Circus. which had lasted for seven years. And then, right at the most beautiful, here is thegoodbye. From this year in fact, the brand of the Japanese house will no longer appear on the liveries of Red Bull and AlphaTauri.
A strange and controversial choice, the result of the crisis linked to the pandemic that also hit Japan, but which in some ways appears even more incomprehensible, considering that the Honda engineers will continue to collaborate with the Milton Keynes factory for at least a year. helping Red Bull in the management and development of its power unit. Verstappen’s next engine, on the RB18 adorned with the number 1, will therefore in fact be made by Honda but without Tokyo being able to put its own brand on it. The boss of Honda motorsport, Masashi Yamamoto, speaking with the official F1 website, however, did not rule out a new future return to the Asian giant’s Circus.
“Personally, I hope and expect Honda to return to Formula 1 – Yamamoto explained, while no statements on the matter arrived from the ‘headquarters’ – it depends on the young people in Honda who are passionate about motorsport. It remains to be seen if they can persuade the executives to return. But history repeats itself, so I hope it can happen. We have been able to demonstrate the validity and effectiveness of our technology and the capabilities of our workforce. Naturally – concluded Yamamoto – we could not have achieved these results without the great role played by our great partners: Red Bull Racing, with whom we won the title, and also Scuderia AlphaTauri, which welcomed us with an open mind allowing us to move forward together after a difficult three years“.
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