Honda Boss Koji Watanabe lauds Max Verstappen as ‘one of the greatest drivers in F1 history’
Honda Lead at Honda Racing Corporation, Koji Watanabe praises Max Verstappen
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Koji Watanabe and Max Verstappen (via Imago)
Honda is the engine supplier for Red Bull. The pair struck gold in 2021 as Red Bull clinched the President of HRC – Honda Racing Corporation, has commented on Max Verstappen’s streak of dominance following the 2021 season.
Watanabe speaks of how Max Verstappen understands the Japanese culture ahead of the Japanese Grand Prix at Suzuka. The Honda Boss also considers Verstappen as ‘one of the greatest’ in the sport. He said, “Verstappen is already one of the greatest drivers in the history of the sport. He understands Japanese culture, and therefore also that of Honda, very well. The engineers at our factory love him.”
Koji Watanabe looks over Honda’s activity in another ‘globe-trotting’ Grands Prix circus, Moto GP. Honda’s fall from the top in Moto GP coincides with it’s staggering rise to dominance in Formula 1. The New decade showed promise for the Red Bull – Honda duo but there appears to be some friction between the two now.
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Red Bull’s powertrain supplier problem
Honda is slated to provide powertrains for Red Bull until 2026. The Japanese company had announced that they would stop providing powertrains to Formula 1 beyond the year. The pair started working together only in 2019 and have proven to be a formidable pair as they’ve dominated the sport for the last 3 years.
It’s quite tricky to understand how the deal between Honda and Red Bull works. Since Honda announced it’s withdrawal, Red Bull have incidentally become their own engine supplier through Honda. What that means is, the current deal is a continuation of Honda supplying the engine but with Red Bull paying the bills rather than a joint sponsorship deal.
Red Bull have announced that they are currently working with Ford to develop their powertrains beyond 2026. Honda’s new announcement, about their uncertainty of withdrawing from Formula 1 has enraged Red Bull. Red Bull complain how they might have never needed to invest in making a new powertrain if Honda weren’t going to withdraw from the sport.
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Himanshu Chavan
(232 Articles Published)