Christian Horner, team representative of Red Bull F1, recalled that when he started a partnership with Honda F1 in 2019, he was willing to design an F1 machine to Honda’s requirements.
After the difficult relationship with Renault ended in 2018, Red Bull Racing installed Honda’s F1 power unit, which proved its potential by fighting Alpha Tauri (then Toro Rosso) for one season, on the RB15 in the 2019 season.
After a disastrous McLaren era, Honda led Red Bull’s Max Verstappen to the F1 world title in 2021, but pulled out of F1 at the end of that season.
Honda has registered as a manufacturer in the 2026 F1 regulations, but this is purely to allow it to play a role in shaping the regulations and not as a sign of an imminent return.
One of the reasons Honda’s partnership with McLaren failed was McLaren’s insistence on a ‘size zero’ design, limiting the development of Honda’s F1 power unit.
But Christian Horner says Red Bull Racing was happy to compromise the design of its F1 car in order to make Honda’s F1 power unit work. .
“Of course,” Horner told RacingNews365 when asked if Red Bull Racing was open to compromises when starting its partnership with Honda F1.
“The team was ready to do everything they could to extract the best possible performance after years of hardship and everything was focused on performance. Very ambitious. I think I felt like I suddenly had a partner.”
“You could see that commitment, that desire and the fact that it means a lot to every member of the Honda team.”
“Honda is a very passionate company within the racing department and I could see that through Sakura and their design and operations team.”
Category: F1 / red bull / honda f1