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Max Verstappen had doubts about Honda’s Formula 1 future after he signed a new long-term Red Bull deal, but claims he doesn’t see its confirmed departure “as a negative”.
Verstappen has won four races since Red Bull partnered with Honda last year but the package has failed to match Mercedes this year and he has fallen well out of title contention.
Honda announced last week it will leave F1 at the end of 2021, giving Verstappen the prospect of two full seasons without the engine partner he thought Red Bull would have when signed a new multi-year deal to the end of 2023.
But Verstappen said by the time Honda’s exit was confirmed “you could feel it coming”, as it had only extended its initial two-year Red Bull Racing contract by a single season to cover 2021.
Asked by The Race when he started to have doubts and if it came after signing his long-term deal, Verstappen said: “Yeah, it definitely came after of course I signed a deal.
“But they never committed a lot longer so you could expect something like this, you’re never sure.
“And that’s the same for teams as well. I mean you sign a deal with them, but who knows what is happening in five years’ time, right?
“To be honest, like I said, you could feel it coming. I guess the whole situation in the whole wide world is definitely not helping.
“It’s just not easy.”
Red Bull has promised to evaluate all options in the wake of Honda’s exit. These include taking over the intellectual property and finding a way to mount a continuation programme, or returning to being an engine customer with a Renault reunion most likely.
While Verstappen had a tense relationship with Renault prior to Red Bull’s switch to Honda, he said he would be “open to anything”.
But Red Bull and Verstappen have been enthusiastic supporters of the Honda working relationship and how beneficial it is for the team to have a tailored engine, rather than be kept at arm’s length on a supply basis.
It is therefore likely that should Red Bull be forced into a customer relationship again, it will come with compromises that the Honda deal had briefly eliminated.
However, when asked by The Race how difficult it would be to replace the bespoke Honda programme and achieve Red Bull’s aims, Verstappen and team-mate Alex Albon played down the significance of that set-up.
Verstappen hinted that was because Red Bull’s succession plan could be made to work in its favour.
“We don’t know at the moment how it’s going to look,” said Verstappen. “But I don’t necessarily see it as a negative. But let’s find out.
“We learned a lot from the different engine manufacturers we’ve had so far.
“And at the moment I think it’s all a bit unknown of what we’re going to do.
“Are we going to take another engine? I don’t know.”
Albon added: “If you look into history of Red Bull, they’ve been very good at getting things to fit, and working well with engine manufacturers.
“I don’t see why it would be such a negative to not have that tailor-made engine.”
Verstappen also insisted that “at the moment” the decision doesn’t impact his confidence that Red Bull can fight Mercedes, which is on course to secure a seventh straight title double, because “we’re still driving with them for another one and a half years”.
He also said his focus was on what could be achieved in the short-term with Honda because in 2022 “we’ve got the new regulations of the cars coming in, so there are so many unknowns that at the moment it doesn’t make sense” to think longer-term.
Honda will bring forward its planned 2022 engine design to 2021 and has pledged to continue giving Red Bull all its resources until the partnership ends, with the aim of fighting for the championship in its farewell season next year.
“It’s a shame,” Verstappen said. “But you have to understand the reasons and we just keep on pushing.
“That’s also what they said. Of course they’re going to pull out but they’re not just going to back off now.
“We just keep working together, because we have a great relationship. It’s really enjoyable to work with the guys.
“So for the rest of the year we just keep on going and also for next year, introducing the new engine, I’m very much looking forward to that as well – to just bring it to a good end and basically push until the last race.”
