Red Bull commits to Honda
FORMULA 1
Red Bull will switch to Honda engines in Formula 1 from next season after ending its long-running partnership with Renault.
The termination of the 12-year relationship between Red Bull and Renault, which has yielded 57 grand prix wins so far and four world championship doubles from 2010-13, was announced on Tuesday ahead of Renault’s home grand prix.
It came after months of behind-thescenes analysis from Red Bull, aided by its junior team Toro Rosso switching to Honda engines for this year, of whether the Japanese manufacturer was a credible alternative.
Team principal Christian Horner said: “We have always taken decisions such as this dispassionately and with only one criteria [sic] in mind: do we believe the outcome will allow us to compete at a higher level? After careful consideration and evaluation we are certain this partnership with Honda is the right direction for the team.”
“We have been impressed by Honda’s commitment to F1, by the rapid steps they have made in recent times with our sister team Scuderia Toro Rosso, and by the scope of their ambition, which matches our own.”
Honda has identified its initial target of 2019 as ensuring Red Bull does not drop “below its current level”. Though Red Bull and Renault have not replicated their championship-winning success since
F1’s V6-turbo-hybrid era began in 2014, they have still won 10 races in that time.
Seven of those wins have come since Honda rejoined the grand prix grid at the start of 2015, which compares to a best result of fourth for Honda, earned with Toro Rosso in Bahrain earlier this year. Daniel Ricciardo has won two of this season’s seven races for Red Bull, with Max Verstappen adding a brace of podiums.
Honda motorsport boss Masashi Yamamoto said: “[Red Bull] is one of the top teams. It has won several championships and this year too it has already won some races. It is also obvious that they have a very good chassis and this means we’ll have better chances of winning races.
“This gives further motivation to all the members of Honda, but at the same time it is a huge pressure and responsibility for us.
“However, it is Honda’s nature to always aspire to a very high target, and I think that’s what makes Honda, Honda. As a starting point we do not want to see
Red Bull Racing’s performance drop below its current level. But our target is to go further and do better than they are doing at the moment.”
Honda says it will not identify Red Bull as its works F1 team in 2019 because it “doesn’t make sense” to assign labels to either of its customers as it prepares to supply a second squad in F1 for the first time since ’08, when its works team was supported by Super Aguri. Yamamoto said this was an acknowledgement of the regulations stating that engine manufacturers must supply the same specification to all teams, and therefore it does not want to present an image of inequality.
Honda will have more time to prepare for its Red Bull union than it did with its junior team Toro Rosso, having only completed that deal for 2018 as part of a complicated merry-go-round in September ’17.
“Though we have more time compared to last year’s Toro Rosso situation, it is still a relatively shorter timeframe than everyone else,” said Yamamoto.
“So, we have to make sure we have good communication in order to have smooth development together.”
Relations between Red Bull and Renault had grown increasingly fractious in the years following their last title together, as Renault proved unable to match Mercedes and Ferrari in F1’s hybrid era.
Horner thanked Renault for “some incredible moments” over the past 12 years, while Renault reacted with a statement that acknowledged the decision and called it “a natural evolution for both Renault and Red Bull in view of their respective aspirations”.