2019 Assessment – Red Bull: Successful Debut with Honda!

After an agreement with Renault became impossible, Red Bull had to change its engine supplier. However, after a chaotic McLaren-Honda alliance, both politically and sportively, the worst was to be feared. Although the winter tests did not provide much information on the RB15’s performance level, the first race in Australia proved wrong those who did not believe in the Red Bull-Honda project. Finishing ahead of both Ferraris, Max Verstappen secured his first podium of the season in the very first race.

This season was an opportunity for the Milton Keynes team to reassess their chassis, which did not provide complete satisfaction and highlights that the engine might not have been the only issue at Red Bull.

A Honda engine, in fact, that turned out to be much better than expected. The Japanese power unit, although less reliable, has become more powerful and is not far from Ferrari’s level. However, these strong performances are due to rather unique penalty management. Unlike other engine manufacturers who prefer to conserve their engines so that they last the regulatory 7 races, Honda provides maximum power at each race to achieve the best possible results, even if it means sacrificing certain races at the end of the season where a start from the back of the grid will be necessary.

And yet, apart from a retirement for Pierre Gasly in Azerbaijan, no major engine issues have ended a driver’s race this season. A comparison that must be hard to swallow for Renault, which saw its engine go up in smoke on 8 occasions in 2018 just in the back of the RB14.

The only major results of the team are achieved by Max Verstappen, who secured no less than 9 podiums, including two wins, by the end of the season.

In the first part of the season, Pierre Gasly struggled to adapt to the RB15, which was clearly designed for Verstappen’s driving style. Trailing by 7 tenths in qualifying, it was during the race where the performance gap between the two men was the largest, often seeing the Frenchman battle more with the midfield than the leaders. Eventually, he was demoted in the second half of the season to Toro Rosso, where he regained his true performance level, and his spot was taken by Alexander Albon, whose driving style suited the RB15 much better. In qualifying, the Thai driver didn’t outperform Gasly, but it was in the races that he managed to stand out.

If Ferrari was the only rival to Mercedes between Belgium and Singapore, Red Bull had to be relied upon to enliven a 2019 season completely dominated by the silver arrows. The Austrian team finished just 87 points behind Ferrari compared to 152 last year.