Max Verstappen insists he has no concerns about the performance of Honda, following Red Bull’s decision to switch engine supplier in 2019.
The Dutchman is signed up to the Milton Keynes outfit until the end of 2020, after signing an extension last year, therefore, will feel the fallout of what some would consider the risky call to team up with the Japanese manufacturer that struggled so badly with McLaren the past three years.
However, having seen junior team Toro Rosso enjoy a largely trouble-free year having taken on Honda and indeed match the British team that dumped them at several races, Verstappen is confident those dark days are well behind them.
“Looking at the performance they showed this year and the improvements they made – especially in Canada again – it looked very positive,” he told reporters ahead of the French GP.
“They keep improving and putting people in the right places. I believe in the decision and the team clearly believes in it because they signed the deal.”
The 20-year-old also sees believes it will benefit both Red Bull teams that they are the sole customers of Honda.
“It’s exciting as well when you have Honda working for Red Bull and Toro Rosso only, and it’s purely designed around your car. I think that also is very good,” he added.
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Motorsport boss Masashi Yamamoto is keen to stress too that the relationship between Honda and both teams will remain equal.
“We’ll supply the same specification PU to both Red Bull and Toro Rosso,” he said.
“From a manufacturer’s point of view, it doesn’t make sense to identify either team as either works or customer as current regulations oblige us to supply the same power unit to all our teams.
“We appreciate them showing us such an attitude even after seeing our difficult time over the previous three years in F1,” he added.
“We feel that we will have to live up to their high expectations, but can see their respect for us, and we will put everything we have into the development for next season.”