“Like a new beginning” for Honda after victory in Austria

The years of hardship Honda almost passed out yesterday when the FIA ​​confirmed at the end of the day the victory of Max Verstappen (Red Bull) at the Austrian Grand Prix, the Dutchman's success having been on hold for a while after his overtaking of Charles Leclerc (Ferrari).

With this first success since Hungary 2006 for the Japanese manufacturer, Honda returns to the winner's circle, after having left Mercedes, Ferrari et Renault sharing the cake since the advent of turbo/hybrid V6s in 2014.

An era begun with McLaren for Honda from 2015, the reformation of a legendary duo who had enchanted the F1 at the turn of the 80s and 90s, culminating in the Ayrton Senna duel – Alain Prost.

But the new association between Woking and Sakura had not been the most productive, the engine manufacturer facing a number of reliability concerns and a delicate understanding with the British team, then led by Fernando Alonso.

But the progress shown by Honda had convinced Red Bull, and Toro Rosso, to form an alliance, starting last year for the training of Faenza, with encouraging results. 2019 therefore marks the return to the top step of the podium and a real relief within the Japanese management.

“Thanks to the efforts of all Honda F1 staff in Japan and the UK, who worked tirelessly on the development of our Power Unit, we have finally done it, rejoices Toyoharu Tanabe, technical director of Honda F1.

This is our first victory in the hybrid era, the first since Hungary 2006. Thanks, of course, to Max for his superb driving and to Aston Martin Red Bull Racing for providing him with a fantastic car.

We must not forget the great contribution of Scuderia Toro Rosso, who helped us get back on track last year.

Honda did not accomplish this alone, so we would like to recognize the contribution of our suppliers. We returned to this sport in 2015, but today, it's like a new beginning »

True to the Japanese mentality, Tanabe, however, remains cautious after this first success for the Power Unit Honda, reminding us that there is still work to be done for the Sakura teams to achieve the house's objectives.

“We need to get back to work as soon as possible, because we always need to close our performance gap with the fastest teams. » Tanabe concludes. The Red Bull – Honda machine, however, seems to have reached a milestone with the changes made by the engine manufacturer to its powertrain.

Discover the full report and analysis of the Austrian Grand Prix, produced by our special correspondents in Spielberg, in issue 2223 of AUTOhebdo, available this evening in digital version, and this Wednesday on newsstands.