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Tost defends Honda before Red Bull move

Published on 16 Jul 2018 12:07
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By: Jeroen Jonkers

Franz Tost has defended Honda amid concerns the Japanese manufacturer is not up to the task of powering the senior Red Bull team from 2019.

Tost is the team boss at Toro Rosso, the second Red Bull owned team that started using Honda power this year.

He told ORF: "I've never had problems with Honda.

"I don't know what McLaren's experience was, but the engines are not as bad as we heard.

"The engine is good enough and we are working with them to improve it," the Austrian added.

Red Bull driver Max Verstappen also said he is not concerned Red Bull is making a bad move by dropping Renault.

"There's still half a year and Honda will work hard in that time," he said.

"It's better if there are problems now than next year, but I think they've taken big performance steps. They are not slower than Renault anymore."

Verstappen also said full works status for Red Bull will be a big help.

"Normally that's always better, yes," he said.

"You can get an update at every race. At Renault everything went to the factory team first and only one or two races later we got something. It's a pity, but understandable."

F1 News Max Verstappen Renault McLaren Honda

Replies (4)

RogerF1

Posts: 501
But let’s face it, Honda had 3 years of development of this engine under McLaren. It’s not like they are a new comer with a fresh engine straight off the board, no miles, nothing, is it!
Are the RB cars closer to Mercs than 4 years ago at the start of turbo era, of course they are. RB gain is McLaren’s pain.
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- Jul 16 2018 - 14:05
calle.itw

Posts: 8,527
I sorta think Honda should've been able to do more than they have done, but I guess going from where they were in 2015 to being right alongside Renault, which had 1 more year in the hybrid era than them, isnt all that bad. But they should not have gone in with Arai leading and with an understaffed F1 project. And it would really be better for RB to stop talking about it currently and just let Honda get their head down and try to git gud.
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- Jul 16 2018 - 19:09
- Ram Samartha
  
  Posts: 1,172
  Agree. Anyone who has ever driven a Honda car or motorcycle, or seen what they have accomplished in other formulas knows that they can make great engines. It's taken awhile but it looks like they are finally catching up. Toro Rosso doesn't seem to be having such a great year but a lot of their problems don't seem to be engine related. It's really a two tier series at the moment with the Ferrari and the Mercs in one tier and Renault and Honda in the other. I think it has added to the show this year to have the Sauber and Haas teams in the hunt. If Grosjean had been performing on par with KMag they would easily be in 4th in the constructors.
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  Jul 17 2018 - 01:36
- calle.itw
  
  Posts: 8,527
  Oh, its very much a two tier series. Renault and Honda are at least one season behind Merc'. Thus, I would sorta like it if there was some kind of BoP, that would help the Tier 2 teams to last a bit better, say an extra PU allocation per driver, but at the same time thats kinda rewarding mediocrity. I sorta expected STR to be where they are now, but I didnt expect Williams to be the team that would be last. What STR needs now would be for Honda to release another good upgrade before the midseason section ends. As for Haas: not sure if they'd be able to take on a works team, at least not now, but I expect reliability to hit Renault bad later, so you could be right in that they might clench P4. And if they do, I expect Force India to draft along past Renault. And Im really happy to see Sauber doing so well right now.
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  Jul 17 2018 - 09:11