Red Bull has revealed the full Honda tribute livery it will run in this weekend’s Turkish Grand Prix.
The RB16B’s predominantly white design with red elements and retro numbers is inspired by the Honda RA272 with which Richie Ginther scored Honda’s first Formula 1 win in 1965.
In addition, Red Bull’s sister team AlphaTauri is running the one-word message “ありがとう” – Arigato, Japanese for “thank you.”
Since Red Bull entered F1 in 2005 it has run almost exclusively in a variation of the blue, red and yellow of the Red Bull logo.
But it has traded its traditional design for the Honda livery on the weekend that should have marked the Japanese Grand Prix before Honda’s home race fell off the calendar because of the coronavirus pandemic and the Turkish GP took its place.
“Everyone at Honda is extremely disappointed that the Japanese Grand Prix has had to be cancelled, while fully understanding and agreeing with the reasons behind this decision,” said Koji Watanabe, Honda’s chief officer for brand and communication operations.
“We were especially keen to race at Suzuka Circuit, as it is our last year in the sport, at a time when both our teams are performing very well.
“We also appreciate that the Japanese fans were particularly looking forward to seeing Honda’s last appearance here and Yuki Tsunoda driving in his home race.
“We know that a special livery cannot replace what would have been a very exciting weekend, but we hope that Honda fans around the world, especially those in Japan, will accept this special livery as a small token of our appreciation of their continued support over so many years.”
