Red Bull Confirms Honda Power for F1 2019

[Turk]

Given the performance of the Honda engine this year it seems like a gamble. But Honda always have the potential to pull a great engine out of the bag. The odds of that happening increase with every season they do too.

 

[Jan Larsen]

For RedBull I hope so, but I'm not convinced yet. RedBull is aiming for the world title asap and seeing where Honda is coming from, I don't think they can make such leaps forward to come up to that expectation; especially on short notice. A 'catching up' PU is simply not good enough to conquer the world title. Time will tell...

Agreed. I'll saw off my left nut if Honda is championship winning material next year, my right nut if as early as 2020, but after that they should be at least equal to Ferrari and Merc. I'm not mentioning Redbull here as thats already a potential championship winning chassis, it all depends on the engine. I'm seriously spectical about Honda holding up to that pressure. McLaren gave Honda hell, rightly so most of the time, but Redbull and Mateschitz will give them even more if they dont perform.

 

[Andrew Harper]

Well not quite true, no one ever said that, Newey selected the Renault for various reasons for his design, Renault were the masters of exhaust blowing implementation that suited the Red Bull and Vettel's driving style, no one else managed to map the engine as well.

Renault's philosophy has always been about far more than outright power invariably throughout all the era's they have participated in they have never been the most powerful, but they have always been the most driveable engines.

Absolutely, Renault helped Red Bull dominate in the era of the normally aspirated engines.

Like many others (not just Renault) they just suffered at the beginning of the turbo-hybrid era. Mercedes had a huge head start on these engines and don't forget Renault motorsport is a smaller operation compared to the giant that is Mercedes. They don't have the ability to throw millions at every little problem. I feel though that Red Bull's constant criticism of the engine started to become a bit too much. Behind closed doors yes, but not in every TV/Radio interview. Although I suppose the press don't help by asking about it all the time!

The Renault engine as it is at the moment is probably about 95% of the way there. The hybrid seems to work well now, it's just slightly down on top end. Ok, reliability is not 100% but if you are pushing like crazy to catch up, this will happen unfortunately.

Will be interesting to see how the new partnership goes. The more relaxed atmosphere (in other words a mid-field team) has probably helped Honda to relax a little, try a few different things and just concentrate on getting the engine more up to where it should be, without getting involved in all the politics within the team.

 

[LeSunTzu]

Red Bull was whining about everything even when they were dominating F1. Renault was just a part of it, with stewards, unfair press, Ferrari-FiA-Mercedes plots, and so on.

Why they think Honda would give them better chances for the title is beyond me, but what do I know? Perhaps there is also a financial bargain behind the deal.

 

[Cristian Haba]

Great Decision, they lose both drivers. Prob Verstappen to Merc and Daniel to Ferrari. Also they blow up... a lot

 

[felippekiss]

maybe RedBull's move is not focused on 2019 and 2020 but thinking about 2021 where all the regulation will be changed, seeing from this side seems to be a good move for both (RedBull and Honda) these two years that precede the new regulation

 

[Angelo dos Santos]

I think is the right choice for Red Bull and the most logic one.
Of course I dont know the full terms of the agreement, which is important.
Red Bull now have a partnership with Honda, having the engine cost free and working in sinergy with the japaneses on the overall project?
Or Red Bull simple is paying, even if for a cheaper price, to have the Honda engines but without the status of factory team?
Im asking because the name of the team will remain Aston Martin Red Bull Racing. No mention to Honda on the name.

 

[keto95]

maybe RedBull's move is not focused on 2019 and 2020

But it is. They're constantly talking about winning another world title and last year (in 2017) Verstappen signed a renewed contract because RedBull promised to make him a world champion within 2 years. Also Ricciardo demanded a winning car. Well, it appears that it's not going to happen.

 

[Boby Kim]

Code 4, code 4, Abandon ship immediately!

 

[Leonardo Chaves]

Red Bull actually knows how many horses this upgraded Honda is putting out and what are their future plans.
Honda seems to have found a decent path just as they left Mclaren, coincidence or not?

Couple that with a bad Renault relationship, where Red Bull is down on power to the other teams (because of fuel, not deliberate screwing), the decision seems obvious.

 

[M-Bimmer]

Mclaren went down the drain with Honda and Red bull could be up next? ...time will tell

 

[Enagee]

Sometimes you need to gamble..... Brawn team did, Lewis did.. It paid off .. Redbull don't really have much of an option so its no big surprise
Renault has big plans for itself they just signed Mercedes head of powertrain, they really don't want Redbull to stay.
Guessing Torro rosso willI benefit the most from Honda as they will most likely stay with Honda for a while. Real question is will this influence Ricardo..

 

[Appie Kuipers]

But it is. They're constantly talking about winning another world title and last year (in 2017) Verstappen signed a renewed contract because RedBull promised to make him a world champion within 2 years. Also Ricciardo demanded a winning car. Well, it appears that it's not going to happen.

You have a problem, allways negative!!

 

[jpalesi]

You have a problem, allways negative!!

No, he's realistic. A quality hardly found in Verstappen fans.

 

[keto95]

No, he's realistic. A quality hardly found in Verstappen fans.

Don't blame him, children don't see the difference.

 

[Appie Kuipers]

Don't blame him, children don't see the difference.

No comment, useless!

 

[Mr Latte]

Okay, let me get this right....

RedBull complain about Renault's lack of power and reliabilty for the last few seasons.
So the obvious way forward is with Honda?


Honking Honda Redballs for 2019 !
Bye Bye Ricardo?

 

[Kenny Paton]

You have a problem, allways negative!!

No, he's realistic. A quality hardly found in Verstappen fans.

Don't blame him, children don't see the difference.

Let's keep it civil gentlemen no need to start personal disagreements.

 

[farjam]

I was alive when red bull switched to Honda ! read it some years later!

 

[M-Bimmer]

Mclaren went down the drain with Honda....
Red bull...challenge accepted