'Replacement "Honda" on Red Bull rear wing good for results'

Red Bull Racing and Honda scored a double podium two races in a row. Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez both finished on the podium in Turkey and the United States. Something that has only happened once before this season, in France. Remarkably, both times there was no Honda on the Red Bull's rear wing.

Honda on the back wing

In both Turkey and America, Red Bull drove with a modified livery on the car. In Turkey, there was the red and white livery with 'Arigato' (thanks in Japanese) on the rear wing. In Austin, there was 'Acura' on the rear wing, the brand under which Honda produces cars mainly in North America. "A lot of people said we should do something like that again in Mexico," Honda chief Masashi Yamamoto told the Japanese AS-web. So far, at least, it's doing Honda favors.

Yamamoto explains where the idea of putting Acura on the rear wing came from. "The idea came from an Acura dealer in 2019. He thought there would be support for this. When we got approval for this, this year, we did it. The nose still has the H of Honda on it, so we appeared at the start with a double name." The expectation is that Mexico will simply have Honda on the rear wing again.

Impressed with Verstappen

Meanwhile, Verstappen drove one of his strongest races of the season in Austin. That Verstappen would have a chance at victory was not in the cards after the first free practice sessions. "That's right, Mercedes was very fast on Friday. But during the third free practice, I did get the feeling that we could go for pole position." Yamamoto's feeling proved correct and the Dutchman captured pole position in qualifying.

At the start of the race, however, Verstappen lost the lead again to Lewis Hamilton. "I didn't panic by Hamilton's overtaking," he said. After the first series of pitstops, Verstappen conquered the lead, but at the end of the race, the Mercedes driver quickly approached. "Lewis is great. I did get a bit impatient with his fierce pursuit at the end of the race. But Max, who didn't lose the lead in the last three laps, was also great. Really good. He's a calm driver who doesn't seem to be in his early twenties."