Red Bull and Honda to Celebrate Fifty Races Together in Belgian Grand Prix

Christian Horner says Red Bull Racing’s relationship with engine partners Honda has gone ‘from strength-to-strength’ in the two and a half seasons they have been together, and it is credit to the Japanese engine manufacturer that they are in contention for both titles in 2021.

This weekend’s Belgian Grand Prix marks the fiftieth race since Red Bull and Honda united together, and in that time, they have taken eleven race wins and thirty-two podium finishes.

Horner, the Team Principal at Red Bull, says the team are ‘enormously’ proud of what they have achieved in such a short amount of time with Honda as their engine supplier.

“Our relationship with Honda has grown from strength to strength since we started working together at the beginning of the 2019 Formula One season,” said Horner.  “We are enormously proud of our joint success to date, delivering 11 wins and 32 podiums from 49 race starts.

“Spa will mark our 50th race together and this is a great moment to reflect on what we have achieved so far, build on that success and also thank everyone at Honda for their extraordinary effort and commitment, which has enabled us to be in the position to fight for a championship this year.”

“We will all be pushing as hard as possible to finish this adventure on a high” – Toyoharu Tanabe

Toyoharu Tanabe, the Honda Racing Technical Director, says Honda joining up with Red Bull was a great move, particularly after failing to score a podium with their previous partners at the McLaren F1 Team.

Tanabe says he is delighted Red Bull have been ‘open and fair’ with their approach to the relationship with Honda, and they are looking to end their manufacturer interest in the sport with some more fantastic results between now and the end of the season.

“In a short space of time, we have achieved some great results in this hybrid era, such as our first win in Austria in 2019 and first pole in Hungary that same year, as well as our first double podium with Red Bull in Bahrain 2020 and, most recently, the fact we have taken five consecutive wins so far this year,” said Tanabe.

“Honda had been back in Formula 1 for four years before joining up with Red Bull and we had not even scored a podium finish, so we have come a long way to be now fighting for the championship together with Red Bull. This is down to a lot of hard work and excellent communication from everyone at Honda and Red Bull.

“On the eve of our 50th race, I want to thank Red Bull Racing for their open and fair approach and the trust they showed in us, sharing the same goal. In addition, we must not forget the contribution from the drivers in that time.

“Another key factor was our excellent cooperation with Scuderia Toro Rosso back in 2018, which laid the groundwork for partnering both teams as from the following year and we are proud of what we have achieved so far. There are only around a dozen races still remaining for Honda’s F1 project and we will all be pushing as hard as possible to finish this adventure on a high.”

Red Bull and Honda celebrate fifty races together this weekend in Belgium – Credit: Bryn Lennon/Getty Images