Honda about Verstappen: "He's special and does more than we expected"

Honda will start their second season with Red Bull Racing this weekend. The first season can be described as a great success. Honda achieved his first victory in thirteen years and Max Verstappen finished third in the championship for the first time. What does Toyoharu Tanabe think back to that first Red Bull Ring victory last year?

"That's one of the best memories and it was a great time. We celebrated that victory with the drivers, mechanics, engineers and the rest of the team members on the circuit," he said in a question and answer session on the Honda Racing F1 Youtube channel.

One of the most important parts of this success in 2019 was Max Verstappen. All victories and podium finishes were achieved on his side of the garage. Honda realises that they are allowed to squeeze their hands with such a top driver in their team.

"He's special. He does more than we expected. He is very precise and in general very calm, but sometimes also with a lot of passion. He is also a very nice boy. The driver is one of the best sensors on the car. We can't see the driver's feedback in the data. They can feel other things. Moreover, we have no idea how the car feels in the dirty air of other cars. They feel exactly what we need."