F1 News

Honda pledge to always treat two customer teams equally according to Tanabe

Honda pledge to "always" treat two customer teams equally according to Tanabe

16-01-2020 15:20
1

Aston Martin Red Bull Racing and Alpha Tauri will again be customers of Honda during the 2020 Formula 1 season. Toro Rosso recorded one of their best ever seasons which included two trips to the podium and a sixth-place finish in the championship last time out. Toyoharu Tanabe, who has pledged to always treat different customer teams equally, believes Alpha Tauri could improve on last year. 

Alpha Tauri and Honda will work together for a third consecutive season. The first of which was used as an experiment for Red Bull Racing. Reliability issues caused problems in that year together. The reliability issues were solved and the Japanese engine manufacturer has since focused on performance upgrades.

“I believe [Alpha Tauri can go even further]. Especially after the summer break, their performance looked to have improved well. They are getting stronger. I think they will have a strong car for this year, then I hope we will have more good results next year with Toro Rosso and Red Bull," Tanabe told Racer. 

Equal between Red Bull and Alpha Tauri 

According to Tanabe, the attention they give to either team will always be equal. 

“We support two teams equally, of course, PU specification, everything equal. And then the number of engineers and mechanics was equal, the scale also equal, so when we started (2019), some people from the previous year moved to Red Bull, some were new to Toro Rosso. So we mixed the (experienced) people and then made our support level the same. We’ll keep the same style for next year. Not only next year – always!”