Verstappen "couldn't sleep" night before first drive with Honda engine

Red Bull Racing star Max Verstappen admitted he couldn't sleep much the night before his first-ever drive in the Honda-powered Red Bull challenger, the RB15, as the Dutchman explained he was thát excited to see how it drove.

Verstappen has accumulated five wins in his 57 Grands Prix for Red Bull since Spain 2016, but was often left frustrated by the power unit in the back of his car. The Bulls were never able to consistently challenge the likes of Mercedes and Ferrari for wins, with performance and reliability often being a problem with the Renault engines.

With Honda now as their engine partners, performance should increase for the Bulls, and Verstappen can't wait to see how things will look once Melbourne rolls around next week.

"I couldn't wait until the filming day at Silverstone," the 21-year-old told Motorsport.

"I wanted to get started and discover how the engine behaved. I bare slept the night before. I haven't been thís excited in a long time!"

With Honda, it truly is a new era for Red Bull, as they had been powered by Renault for 12 straight years before. 

"It's a new project with Honda and it's really important to understand everything. The tests are there to prepare yourself as good as possible on the start of the season because you don't have much time to tweak things afterwards."

Expectations of Honda are high at Red Bull, but according to Verstappen, so is the morale.

"It's a fresh start and everyone is looking forward to working together and getting good results. The atmosphere around the team is very good and it's a good thing to have this much motivation."