Verstappen: 'Project with Honda has always been very important to me'

Everyone has already said something about it, except one of the protagonists. For the first time since it was announced that Honda will leave Formula 1 after 2021, Max Verstappen is responding to the termination of the cooperation.

Important project

"It is of course a shame that Honda are leaving Formula One, especially as we have such a good relationship and we really see the dedication of the people involved in the project which has always been very important for me", says the Dutchman in the Red Bull Racing preview of the Eifel Grand Prix.

No matter how big the impact of this will be from 2022 onwards, for now Verstappen remains undisturbedly committed to the project with Honda. "What we are focused on then nothing has changed. We still have the rest of this season and next season to focus on together and we are still trying to be on the podium every single race, that’s a good target for us. Making sure that we maximise all the results that we can all the time.”

Race at Nürburgring

So for now the arrows are focused on the race at the Nürburgring, a circuit where Verstappen never drove a Formula 1 car before. "I haven’t raced at the Nürburgring since Formula 3 so I’m excited to go back there to see what a Formula One car can do. It’s a very technical track, I like it."

One of the big factors for this weekend is the weather. “The weather looks like it’s going to be a lot colder than the races we’ve had so far this year, and there may be a little bit of rain so hopefully that will make it an even more interesting race weekend", concludes Verstappen.