Return of Honda: 'World Championship of Max triggered so much emotion'

Honda is stepping up its cooperation with Red Bull Racing and AlphaTauri from the current race weekend in Japan. Christijan Albers thinks it is only logical that the two parties have found each other again and understands Honda taking such a step, he explained to Viaplay.

From 2019, Honda worked with both teams for three consecutive seasons, but after the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, that seemed to come to an end. The Japanese withdrew from Formula 1 and Red Bull, by setting up Red Bull Powertrains, found another way to make its engine in the future.

Behind the scenes, however, Honda and Red Bull continued to maintain an excellent relationship with each other, with even talks of an intensified collaboration taking place again. According to Albers, it is understandable for Honda to return to the forefront after the successful 2021 season in which Max Verstappen took the world title.

"That world championship of Max triggered so much emotion," states the former Formula 1 driver. "And that came through in Japan. Then when you are CEO of Honda and you go everywhere and you are congratulated everywhere on a world championship, at some point the light bulb goes on."