Mercedes boss Toto Wolff is of the view that Red Bull Racing has taken an ‘absolutely right decision’ to pair up with Honda for the next two seasons in Formula 1, adding that in longterm it will certainly be beneficial.
After 12 years with Renault, the 2019 F1 season will see a change in Red Bull’s team personnel with a lots of Japanese people around as they start a new journey with Honda for at least until the 2020 season.
The Japanese manufacturer returned to F1 with McLaren but the relationship went from bad to worse with the mounting issues with the power unit. Honda then found a partner in Toro Rosso which opened up the doors for Red Bull.
The decision by Red Bull has had a mixed response with many still pondering whether Honda can live upto the expectations or not. However, Mercedes’ Wolff believes it was the right call made by Red Bull.
“As a Formula 1 fan, we all remember the glorious years of Honda in the sport and I have no doubt that they can come back to that situation,” started Wolff. “For us, as Mercedes, it is extremely important that we have top brands in Formula 1.
“Be it OEMs that have joined the sport as engine suppliers or be it multinational and global brands such as Red Bull, and the more we can attract the better for all of us and the better for the sport. I have also no doubt that they will be competitive.
“Franz [Tost] mentioned it before, the collaboration will make another step between Toro Rosso, Honda and Red Bull for next year. And with Red Bull’s technical capabilities and resource they will certainly be of great assistance to make the power unit progress.
“This is certainly the right step forward, looking from the outside, for all parties. It was important for Red Bull to have a works status. Long term probably the best chance to win a championship. Maybe short term, more work to do.
“But long terms, from where I sit, absolutely the right decision. Looking forward to tougher fights and tougher battles with Red Bull Honda,” he said. The ‘works’ partnership is one point which helped Red Bull to make an easy decision.
With Renault having its own factory team, Christian Horner was left with the choice of becoming a works team themselves or remain as a customer team – and they chose the former after analysing Honda’s Canada upgrades with Toro Rosso.
Meanwhile, the new partnership comes as a benefit for Toro Rosso as per its team principal Tost. He feels, it will bring the two Red Bull outfits much closer and the Faenza-based outfit will stand to gain momentum in the midfield battle.
“Fantastic news,” started Tost on Red Bull Honda. “We are very much looking forward about this. I think a company like Honda, which is so well know overall, has to win races and with Toro Rosso that’s difficult as we don’t have the infrastructure for winning races in Formula 1 and therefore Red Bull Racing is absolutely the correct partner.
“Toro Rosso will profit out of this because the synergies between Red Bull Technology will increase. We will have next year the complete rear end from Red Bull Technology. Therefore, I am convinced about this, we will also improve our performance. Currently we are very much involved in all the bench tests and everything.
“Although we are very low, limited with resources and so on, it’s really a lot of work on our side and in future this is being done by Red Bull Technology, which means we have resources for other performance differentiators, which is quite important for Toro Rosso.
“In the end I think all three partners will get the most out of it and will profit from this co-operation,” he added. As things stands, Mercedes and Ferrari will have three teams each in 2019 including the factory outfits with Renault and Honda with two customer squads each.