Red Bull ‘indebted and grateful’ to Honda as power units deal ends with 2026 rule change

Red Bull and Honda have been in a partnership since the start of the 2019 Formula 1 season.

Red Bull ‘indebted and grateful’ to Honda as power units deal ends with 2026 rule change

Red Bull RB20, image via Red Bull Racing

Red Bull has been dominating the F1 landscape. However, during the start of the turbo-hybrid era, the situation was worlds apart as the Renault engine was handicapping the Austrian giant from excelling. This led to the team terminating its contract with the French engine maker and bringing in Honda to charge forward their carriage which aided them win multiple championships. This led the team’s chief engineer to explain how the team was indebted to the Japanese manufacturer.

The Milton Keynes-based squad joined F1 in 2005. They set out their goal of winning the championship and achieved it in 2010. Subsequently, Red Bull continued its reign until the onset of 2014 regulations causing them to slump below Mercedes. This urged the team to request Renault to increase investment in their engine program to bump up their performance but the French manufacturer denied such requests.

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This led the Austrian giant to test out the Honda engines in Toro Rosso (currently RB) during the 2018 season, which helped them get enough data to evaluate the engine’s stance. Moreover, the team brought in the Honda power unit in 2019, relieving them from the hassle of Renault and helping them accelerate in the championship standings.

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We are very indebted and very grateful to Honda for everything they done with us. But now we are the ones under the umbrella, and the opportunity to be better merged with the power unit is one that we can't give up or deny ourselves.
Paul Monaghan said in an interview with RacingNews365

Red Bull’s chief engineer Paul Monaghan has admitted that the team is grateful to the Japanese marque for their support. On the other hand, despite Honda’s earlier admission to leave F1, they have continued their supply of engines for Red Bull, distributing the workload between the two.

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Max Verstappen recalls emotions amassing maiden title with Red Bull

Apart from this, Honda power helped Max Verstappen clinch his first driver’s title. The night in Abu Dhabi was filled with emotions for the Dutchman, who revealed that Red Bull is like a second family for him.

Max Verstappen
Max Verstappen (via IMAGO)

The Dutchman claimed that he cannot forget the memories he formed during the 2021 title fight.

The first title together was very emotional after such a year, which was very very difficult and hard on everyone. Those moments I will never forget. The general relationship I have with the team – it definitely just feels like a second family, you know? I can really be myself, which is also very important. It’s just great – there are so many people that have been there from the start, but also new people that came into the team, and it’s just fantastic to be able to work with all of them.
Max Verstappen said on the Talking Bull podcast

The 26-year-old explained that his relationship with the team is like of a second family. He asserted that he can be truly himself around the engineers and has formed a rapport with his colleagues which makes him feel like he is at home.

Apart from this, he would like to give a sweet farewell to Honda by winning another two titles. However, McLaren has caught up to the Milton Keynes-based outfit causing the Dutchman to be on his backfoot heading into the final phase of the calendar.

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