Verstappen warns the grid about Honda: "We're not lying"

Red Bull's Max Verstappen has insisted that the team is "not lying" about the leaps in performance Honda have made this season ahead of the team's switch in engine partners to the Japanese manufacturer next season.

Honda's reputation got severely damaged after their disastrous three-year partnership with McLaren, with the Woking-based team constantly blaming Honda for their obvious reliability issues and lack in performance, as they dropped as far as ninth in the constructors' championship at the end of 2017.

This season, Honda switched partners and powered Toro Rosso, Red Bull's development team. The two have thrived in their relationship, with the third spec of the Japanese engine even being more powerful than the Renault-engine. The leap in performance that has happened this season has prompted Red Bull to ditch Renault at the end of 2018 and also give Honda a go for two seasons. 

Verstappen is excited about the switch to Honda, as he warns the world that Red Bull isn't lying about the progress the Japanese have made this year.

“It also shows in the numbers [that Honda have improved]. We’re not lying, just putting something in the world which isn’t true,” the 21-year-old was quoted by Crash.net.

“It also depends on how much the other people are going to improve as well so we have to wait and see.

“I’m realistic. I think initially we’re still a bit shorter on power but it’s definitely going to be better than what we have now.

“For sure it will be closer. Is it going to be enough? Initially I don’t know. It’s all about trying to get the best results possible, and not lose too many points initially.”

Even though everyone always says that they're taking the next step ahead of a new season, we can't help but feel that Honda could be the ideal partner to add raw power to their famously great chassis. We'll have to wait a few more months to see, though...