Honda back in business?
Since Honda's return to Formula 1 in 2015, Red Bull has been the chosen one that succeeded in bringing the Japanese manufacturer back to the podium and to the top of the standings.
A painful past
Formerly a constructor team, Honda was eventually bought out at the end of 2008 due to lack of significant results and became Brawn GP, with the success that is well known (constructors’ and drivers’ titles with Jenson Button). Bought out once again after just one year of existence, the team is now Mercedes, the multi-titled team of the hybrid era.
It was only in 2015 that the Japanese manufacturer returned to the premier category of motorsport, but this time as an engine supplier for McLaren. The objective of reliving the successes of the greatest partnership in Formula 1 never materialized. During three long seasons, McLaren and Alonso put the Japanese power unit to the test before signing a very costly and publicized divorce.
In parallel to this, as its relationship with Renault deteriorates, Red Bull sees great potential in Honda. The Austrian team tasks its sister team Toro Rosso to take the initial hits in 2018 and to serve as a real laboratory to assess the skills and reliability of the Japanese power unit. This new alliance proves to be much healthier, and despite some reliability issues, the Japanese engine manufacturer seems to have made great strides in terms of performance.
A sneaky first look at Toro Rosso’ 2018 offering! 👀 #STR13 #F12018 #F1 pic.twitter.com/aT8To45bwp
— F1 Images (@F1_Images) February 21, 2018
A Bright Future?
Pleased with the performances of the small Scuderia, Red Bull also decides to switch to this new engine and places high expectations on Honda to finally enable the Austrian team to compete for the title.
This season, the Red Bull-Honda alliance is under close scrutiny, and F1 observers are wondering if it will work. Several pieces of evidence have been provided during winter testing and this season’s first race. The first thing to note is that the reliability issues seem to have been resolved. Toro Rosso managed to cover nearly 957 laps during testing compared to 822 in 2018 and the 425 previously completed by McLaren.
Red Bull fast-tracks RB15 update as Marko defends Honda optimism – https://t.co/9nrXywNx0h #F1 #AusGP pic.twitter.com/09q8eGnLBx
— InsideRacing.com (@INSIDERACINGcom) March 12, 2019
In terms of performance, the gap with Ferrari and Mercedes engines has been closed. Even better, the Honda seems superior to the Renault engine. For this weekend’s Australian qualifications, Alexander Albon and Daniil Kvyat achieved the third and fourth highest top speeds, respectively. This improvement in performance is due to significant investments by Honda to make up for the delays of previous years.
This improvement in the quality of the Japanese engine was confirmed in Melbourne thanks to Max Verstappen, who managed to outpace Vettel’s Ferrari and even challenge Hamilton to secure third place. It’s Honda’s first podium since the British Grand Prix in 2008.
Clearly, Honda has made significant progress in terms of performance and reliability, but there is still much work to be done to become the benchmark in engine manufacturing. It remains to be seen if the RB15 can be a regular contender for victory.
Very happy to start the 2019 season on the podium 💪 We had a great car, so a big thank you to @redbullracing and congrats to @HondaRacingF1 for their 1st podium in the V6 era 🙌 #KeepPushing 🇦🇺 #AusGP pic.twitter.com/pWNHWAsdGw
— Max Verstappen (@Max33Verstappen) March 17, 2019
