Tanabe: 'That's one of our key positives'

Honda wants to leave Formula 1 with one last hurrah after 2021. The big goal of the Japanese is to become world champion with Red Bull Racing. The improved reliability is a big boost for this, according to technical director Toyoharu Tanabe.

Max Verstappen retired a number of times in 2020 due to engine problems, but Honda was the only one of the engine suppliers that did not receive any penalty points. While a few years ago at McLaren engine after engine could be thrown away because of poor reliability.

"One of our key positives was that we learned from previous seasons, improving our reliability so that we used just the three PUs allowed per driver, taking no PU-related penalties," says Toyoharu Tanabe according to MotorsportWeek.com.

Honda achieved the best result in sixteen years with a second position in the constructors' championship. "Overall, we had hoped to challenge for the championship title with Red Bull, but we could not match Mercedes over the year and so it’s clear we need to work very hard to improve our package," continued Tanabe, who reiterated that Honda will quit Formula 1 after next season.

The final goal remains unchanged for Honda, says Tanabe: "To win the World Championship. Along with our partner teams we will now be working very hard during what will be a very short off-season in the search for more performance, so that we can come back stronger."