Honda chief cannot believe his luck with Verstappen: ''He trusts us''.

Red Bull Racing will start the Formula 1 season with a new Honda engine, and it seems to like it. Toyoharu Tanabe is happy with what he has seen of his new engine and talks about working with Max Verstappen.

It's the final year of the Red Bull and Honda partnership. The partnership that started through Toro Rosso in 2018 to expand to Red Bull Racing in 2019 is already coming to an end at the end of 2021. However, Honda is still doing everything it can to finish with a world title, and the data from the winter test pleased Tanabe.

The final year of Honda

''During the three test days here in Bahrain, two weeks ago, we didn't have any big problems. That looked very positive. We always set ourselves targets at Honda. And if we look at the results of the dynamometer and the tests on the tarmac, it looks like we have achieved our goal now as well. Honda always wants to win. And that means winning championships. We keep pushing and we will take the challenge," said Honda's top executive to De Telegraaf.

The Japaneseman is reluctant to talk about Honda's imminent departure from Formula 1. ''That we are leaving Formula 1 is sad, let me put it this way. We know we have another year now. Red Bull is taking over the technology and we are still working out the details for that project. Whether I will stay with the team is still under discussion. That's still up for discussion.''

The leader Verstappen

With Honda leaving the sport and their performance improving all the time, Honda runs the risk of missing out on the prizes again. In 2009 this also went wrong, when BrawnGP won the world title one year after Honda left. For Honda, it is to be hoped that Red Bull will win the world title this year.

If the world title is won, Max Verstappen is the man to do it. Tanabe therefore has nothing but praise for the Dutchman. ''Personally I am very happy to work with Max. He is very talented and calm. When he leaves the pit lane for a fast lap in qualifying it's 'boom'. His attitude motivates us a lot. He trusts us. That is very important in the partnership," concluded Tanabe.