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Verstappen thinks Honda already passed Renault

Verstappen thinks Honda "already passed Renault"

14-10-2018 17:58
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Nicolás Quarles van Ufford

Red Bull's Max Verstappen believes that Honda's engine has already surpassed Renault's, as the former will provide engines for the Dutchman's team from next season onwards after 12 years of Renault.

Red Bull and Renault have won four championships together in the Sebastian Vettel-days, but since the German left, they haven't been as competitive. They win a race every now and again, but no real title challenge was ever mounted with the Renault power unit, as Mercedes and Ferrari always proved to be a step ahead.

The Austrian team has decided to move on from Renault and opt to partner up with Honda, which surprised many people. Honda was always criticized by McLaren for not giving them a strong enough engine, and on top of that, they kept breaking down.

With Toro Rosso, Red Bull's development team, being partnered up with Honda this year, it showed that Honda were in fact able to build a good engine, as the power unit got better and better throughout the year. The latest engine upgrade is even said to push them past Renault in terms of power, and Verstappen thinks that the Japanese have a better engine than Renault already.

“I think so," the 21-year-old told his own website when asked if Honda has passed Renault.

Q3 [in Japan] was of course a somewhat separate session, but then they are still in front of the Renaults which is the factory team.

"I think Toro Rosso’s car is not that strong in general, but you can see that Honda is making strides.

“In the race it does not matter that much, but if the car is not at its best, it will not use the tyres as efficient," he continued when analyzing Toro Rosso's weaker performance during the race itself in Japan.

"I don’t know exactly what went wrong, but if you look at pure engine power, it looks good - of course, that will only be better in our car.”