As headlines go, this one wasn’t the most confidence-inducing one I’ve read this week. Given the recent wins at the Austrian and German grands prix, the constructor points tally so far this year and the excitement around Red Bull and Max Verstappen, it is slightly concerning that Honda’s executive management is contemplating their involvement in Formula 1 beyond 2020.
Honda’s F1 managing director Masashi Yamamoto says that there is not much more the team can do in terms of impacting the decision.
“There is not much we could do more than this,” he said.
“What we’ve kept saying is we wanted to exceed last year’s Red Bull result.
“We didn’t say we want to win five races but we want to exceed the points Red Bull scored last year and maybe five wins is possible.”
This is one of the reasons it was important for Red Bull to make a change of drivers mid-season. The Honda-powered team is doing well compared to last year’s performance when the cars were powered by Renault but they need to maximize their efforts and Pierre Gasly wasn’t getting it done.
As for Verstappen, at this time lat year, he had 105 points and now he has 181 so from Max’s side fo the garage, he’s doing everything he can, Pierre simply wasn’t. Now we’ll see if Alexander Albon can starting in Belgium.
“I think it’s going to encourage us for continuation,” said Yamamoto.
“Honda and generally in society [in Japan] are in a very good mood that Honda has won.
“I think it’s going to be very good for us.
“It’s very difficult to clarify at this moment about the timing.
“It’s true we’re discussing it within the company.
“But we can’t really say when we can announce it, at the moment.”
Let’s hope Honda make the right decision and stay in F1 with a renewed relationship and commitment to Red Bull because that team will do well to have a bespoke engine partnership to take the battle to Mercedes, Ferrari and Renault.
Hat Tip: Autosport
Maybe, just maybe, Honda is contemplating their place in F1 in regards to success versus cost. Things have gotten much better with RedBull. However, are they willing to invest vast amounts of money to catch or even keep up with Mercedes-Benz and Ferrari? I suppose it’s a good thing that Honda is just a manufacturer this time and don’t have the added expense of supporting a full team like in the past. I bet Renault is having similar discussions now.