Honda aiming to give Verstappen an engine which can win any F1 race
F1 News
Aston Martin Red Bull Racing's relationship with Honda started off with a positive season. Both parties weren't completely statified and Helmut Marko missed out on his goal of winning five races. For periods of the season, Red Bull Racing went missing and the bosses at the Japanese engine manufcater hope to solve that by proving Verstappen with a strong engine at every race.
Masashi Yamamoto, Honda's managing director, wants to ensure the team are given the best chance of a race victory in all 22 events around the world. Where the result depended more on power, the Red Bull car didn't acheive strong results. Circuit preferences are a no go in 2020.
"We agree [that Red Bull can open the season as number 2 behind Mercedes]. To make that a reality, we have to build a good engine as a Honda. It wasn't unstable this year, but we had circuit preferences It should not be like that. We must be able to tell Max that we are good in every race," Yamamoto tells Motorsport.com.
At the end of the 2019 season, Max Verstappen finished ahead of both Ferrari drivers in the F1 world championship. The third place finish was his highest ever in the table. The boss of Honda engines believes part of this was down to the trust the Dutchman had in his engine.
"What we have been able to give Max this year compared to the past is the reliability of the power source. As a result, he has more time to prepare for qualification. He does not have to worry about the engine failing, so he can spend more time fine-tuning the car for the race and qualifying. I think this is why Max had better results than in recent years," he continued.