Honda issue double promise to Red Bull ahead of Aston Martin switch

Honda have promised to deliver Red Bull an engine capable of winning both world titles in 2025 as they look to mark their final year working together.

Having joined forces in 2019, Red Bull and Honda will part ways after the end of 2025 as the Japanese supplier moves over to Aston Martin.

Honda promise departing gift to Red Bull

Red Bull’s signing with Honda marked a turning point in the team’s form with the troublesome Renault engine becoming a thing of the past. Powered by the Japanese manufacturer, Red Bull have won two Constructors’ Championships and four Drivers’ titles but that partnership has just one more season left to run.

Having initially decided they would leave the sport, Honda reversed that decision in 2023 but Red Bull had already opted to become an engine manufacturer themselves. Since the announcement, Honda have been working with Red Bull Powertrains as the Milton Keynes-based factory gets up and running but the two will part ways in 2025 with Honda powering Aston from 2026 onwards.

Having enjoyed such a successful partnership, Honda president Koji Watanabe promised Christian Horner that both titles would be going to Milton Keynes in 2025.

“I promised Horner that we would definitely recapture the Constructors’ title next year,” Watanabe said, as reported by Auto Sport Web. “In 2025, the final year of our collaboration, we will end the season with a double crown, including the Drivers’ Championship.”

Horner said in 2023 that they would not have decided to become an engine supplier had Honda not withdrawn but did suggest that the team had outgrown its current status.

“For the prospects of Red Bull, we’ve outgrown being a customer.

“For us to have the power unit on-site, integrated fully with the chassis and the synergies that creates with engine and chassis engineers next to each other, for the long-term, the advantages are significant.

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“We wouldn’t have made that jump had it not been for Honda’s withdrawal.”

Honda is the fifth most successful engine producer in F1 history having powered cars to 89 victories. Honda RBPT is responsible for a further 30 and is second best in terms of winning percentage during a single season at 95.5%. Only Ford’s 100% in 1969 and 1973 is superior.

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