Honda strengthens relationships with Red Bull and AlphaTauri

Red Bull and Alpha Tauri announced this Wednesday, October 5 the consolidation of their partnership with Honda. The two teams will continue to use engines produced in collaboration between Red Bull Powertrains and Honda Racing Corporation. The strengthening of this partnership will result in the presence of the Honda logo on the AT03 of the Team AlphaTauri and on the RB18 of Red Bull Racing from the 2022 Japanese Grand Prix, home round of the Japanese engine manufacturer where the Formula 1 I'm coming back for the first time this weekend in years. 

“The HRC logo on the nose and the Honda logo on the side of both teams' racing cars demonstrate the strong bond between Honda and the Red Bull Group, explains Koji Watanabe, head of the corporate communications supervision unit of Honfa Motor Co., Ltd. and president of Honda Racing Corporation. With the technical support provided by HRC, Honda will fully support the challenges these machines will face in order to become the fastest in the world. We are very happy that these cars will be presented at the Japanese F1 Grand Prix, where Honda is the main sponsor. We invite you to encourage the two teams from the Red Bull group who compete with power units equipped with Honda technologies. »

Marko confirms Honda's interest

This weekend at Suzuka, to the great pleasure of Honda, Max Verstappen could be crowned world champion. A second title which owes a lot to the Japanese powertrain, even if the name of the firm does not officially appear. Which could change in the future. “ When Honda announced its withdrawal (in 2021. Editor’s note), declared Helmut Marko in Singapore, we found ourselves in a difficult position. We even spoke to Ferrari, before making the decision to create our own engine department. We built our factory in record time, and our first block is running on the test bench. We hired 300 high-level specialists, some of whom were also former employees of Mercedes-Benz. Red Bull Powertrains does not yet have the know-how for the electrical part, but there are already contacts to become the best in this area too. We are independent, we can do everything independently. But we are also open to a partnership »

A partnership with… Honda! “ They are interested in the idea of ​​cooperating again, concluded the Austrian manager. But this must be done in such a way that Red Bull's DNA is not put at risk. Above all, it is about preserving our incredible flexibility to react extremely quickly. » Flexibilité chérie qui, rappelons-le, aurait provoqué l’échec de l’association avec Porsche.

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