Honda are leaving F1 at the end of the season and, on the weekend which was due to be their home Japanese GP, Red Bull and AlphaTauri are paying tribute to the engine manufacturer with special liveries; Red Bull running predominantly white RB16B car
Thursday 7 October 2021 09:01, UK
Red Bull have revealed the striking white and red livery Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez will race at the Turkish GP.
Both Red Bull and AlphaTauri are running special Honda tribute liveries in Istanbul as a tribute to their outgoing F1 engine supplier, who were due to be celebrating their home Japanese GP this weekend before its cancellation..
The Red Bull cars are predominantly white, inspired by the RA 272 car, in which Richie Ginther secured Honda's maiden F1 victory in 1965.
AlphaTauri will also race with a modified livery this weekend, carrying the word "arigato" - the Japanese word for "thank you" - on their rear wings.
"We had all been looking forward to giving Honda's Japanese fans a chance to celebrate our extremely successful relationship in Formula 1, on home soil at Suzuka," said Red Bull team boss Christian Horner.
"With the race falling victim to the pandemic, we just couldn't let the weekend pass without paying tribute to Honda and its amazing home fans by bringing a little bit of its heritage to Istanbul.
"The livery chosen for our cars pays homage to Honda's remarkable F1 journey and hopefully we can give fans another victory in those legendary colours this weekend."
Red Bull and Honda have also revealed that they will be "co-operating" from 2022, following Honda's departure from F1 at the end of this season. Honda will help build engines for Red Bull next year, before the team go alone from 2023. Red Bull and Honda will also co-operate on their young driver programmes.
Honda are leaving the sport at the end of this season after three years with Red Bull and four with AlphaTauri. While Honda struggled with McLaren before that, their engine progress has helped Red Bull return to the championship fight.
Verstappen is two points behind Lewis Hamilton in the championship ahead of F1 2021's 16th race of 22.
