Honda to power Red Bull in 2019
Red Bull has announced that it will be powered by Honda in Formula 1 on a two-year deal beginning with the 2019 season, ending a 12-year partnership with Renault.
After McLaren severed ties with Honda at the end of last season, the Japanese manufacturer entered a partnership with Red Bull junior team Toro Rosso. This will now extend to the supply of both Red Bull-branded teams next season.
Since the start of the V6 hybrid era in 2014, Red Bull and Renault have often been at odds.
Despite having won four consecutive drivers’ and constructors’ titles between ’10 and ’13 and 47 races since 2009, the team has won only 10 races in the hybrid era and dropped as low as fourth in the constructors’ table in ’15.
“This multi-year agreement with Honda signals the start of an exciting new phase in Aston Martin Red Bull Racing’s efforts to compete not just for grand prix wins but for what is always our goal – championship titles,” said team boss Christian Horner.
“We have been impressed by Honda’s commitment to F1, by the rapid steps they have made in recent times with our sister team Scuderia Toro Rosso, and by the scope of their ambition, which matches our own.
“We look forward to working with Honda in the coming years and to racing together in pursuit of F1’s biggest prizes.”
Honda returned to F1 in 2015, renewing a McLaren partnership that delivered consecutive championship titles between 1988 and ’91.
However, the partnership was hampered by unreliability, with McLaren failing to score a podium finish across the three years powered by Honda. Racing director Eric Boullier described the period as a “proper disaster.”
Remaining in F1 after moving to supply Toro Rosso this season, Honda has seen an upturn in fortunes.
During FP2 at the Canadian Grand Prix, Brendon Hartley’s Toro Rosso recorded the session best speed on the back straight at 328kph.
Reliability has also improved. After seven races in 2018, Pierre Gasly’s MGU-H failure in Australia is the only Toro Rosso retirement caused by power unit failure. With McLaren in ’17, Honda had suffered four failures across the same period.
“We have been impressed by Honda’s commitment to F1, by the rapid steps they have made in recent times with our sister team Scuderia Toro Rosso, and by the scope of their ambition, which matches our own,” Horner added.
“We look forward to working with Honda in the coming years and to racing together in pursuit of F1’s biggest prizes.”
“We would like to thank Renault for the past 12 years, a period during which we experienced some incredible moments together.
“We have sometimes had our differences but Renault has always worked tirelessly and to the best of its ability to provide us with a competitive power unit.”
The two-year deal with Honda will end before the introduction of F1’s new regulations in 2021, which is set to feature a change in power unit design.