Verstappen happy with Honda reliability: "Expected us to have a few retirements"

Aston Martin Red Bull Racing star Max Verstappen has been positively surprised by the reliability of the team's new engine partner Honda, as the Dutchman is yet to suffer a mechanical retirement this season.

Honda are powering Red Bull after the Bulls ended their 12-year partnership with Renault at the end of 2018. 

With their new partners, Verstappen is having his best season to date in Formula 1, as the 22-year-old won two races before the summer break as well as getting his maiden pole position. 

One of the reasons for this is the great reliability from the power unit, which has yet to fail during a race in the opening 16 rounds, which is something that couldn't have been said about the Renault engines in previous years.

"I expected us to retire some time," the seven-time Grand Prix winner admitted to Verstappen.nl.

"I don't mean that in a negative way, but in a first year with Honda things can go wrong.

"Thankfully, it's very calm on that end. Honda are going about their business nicely."