Honda: “Immense pressure and responsibility”

The Japanese manufacturer and the Austrian team made it official this Tuesday a 2 year partnership which provides for the supply of powertrains from the 2019 season.

After 12 seasons spent in the fold of Renault, Red Bull says he is confident of being able to find his way back to world titles with his new engine manufacturer, who has experienced a comeback in F1 eventful with McLaren between 2015 and 2017 before experiencing a rebound with Toro Rosso this season.

« Red Bull is one of the top teams in the field; they have won several championships and have already won races this year, Yamamoto said. They obviously have an excellent chassis, which gives us more chances of winning Grands Prix. This new partnership gives extra motivation to all Honda members.

At the same time, this is an immense pressure and responsibility for us. But it is in our nature to always aim for the highest goals; it's in our DNA. For starters, we want to see Red Bull maintain their current level of performance. But our ambition is to go further and do even better than what they are doing now. ».

Honda also assures that the new collaboration with Red Bull will not relegate Toro Rosso to the background, even if the Faenza team never aimed to overshadow the flagship.

« We will provide the same engine specification to both teams, Yamamoto added. It does not make sense for us to identify one of the two entities as a factory structure and the other as a customer team., especially since the technical regulations oblige us to give an identical propellant to our teams ».

For the first time since its comeback on the Grand Prix scene, Honda will equip two teams. A change of scale for which the manufacturer says it has been ready for years.

« Having multiple teams has always been our intention and we have the structure to meet these needs, Yamamoto concluded. Furthermore, Red Bull Racing and Toro Rosso are part of the same family so we can have a simplified organization on our side. However, we can still improve in terms of staff and will work in this direction with the two teams. ».

When Honda and McLaren were partners, Ron Dennis, then head of the British team, issued his veto to prevent the Japanese manufacturer from propelling a direct competitor like Red Bull at the end of 2015. The Englishman was also convinced that only a factory team could impose itself in the era of current V6 turbo hybrids. The Austrian can giant obviously shares the point of view of the former boss of Woking.