Red Bull will pay tribute to its engine supplier Honda by running a special tribute livery at this weekend’s Japanese Grand Prix.
The team has revealed a special livery in the colours of the Japanese flag for its two RB21s.
This is the final year in which Red Bull is using Honda’s power units. It is designing its own motors in conjunction with Ford for the new regulations which will arrive next year.
Red Bull previously ran a similar livery in 2021. It intended to use the design at the Japanese Grand Prix that year, but it was cancelled due to the Covid-19 pandemic, so the livery appeared at the Turkish Grand Prix instead.
The team’s change of livery is particularly significant this weekend as Yuki Tsunoda will become the first Japanese driver to race for the team. He has replaced Liam Lawson.
Red Bull has enjoyed huge success with Honda since joining forces with the manufacturer in 2019. Honda endured an uncompetitive spell working with McLaren in the early years of the current V6 hybrid turbo power units. The pair split at the end of 2017 and Red Bull took up a supply of Honda power units for its second team, then known as Toro Rosso.
Having been impressed by the improvements Honda made in 2018, Red Bull began using its engines the following year. Max Verstappen scored the first victory for the new alliance in their ninth race together, at the Red Bull Ring in Austria.
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Two years later Verstappen won his first of four consecutive drivers’ titles in a Honda-powered Red Bull. However by that point Honda had decided not continue manufacturing F1 engines. As F1 froze its engine specifications at the end of 2021, Red Bull was able to continue using the power units. In addition to Verstappen’s four titles, the team won the constructors championship in 2022 and 2023.
Red Bull made plans to produce its own F1 engines and originally rebranded its Honda power units as ‘Red Bull Powertrains’. However Honda subsequently decided to return to F1 as an engine manufacturer in 2026, supplying Aston Martin, and restored its brandings to Red Bull’s power units.
This weekend will be the first time Red Bull has used a variation on its livery since last year’s Miami Grand Prix. The team originally announced it would use further special liveries at the other two American round on the calendar, but dropped the plan in order to avoiding adding “undue weight” to its chassis.
Pictures: Red Bull’s Honda tribute livery
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This article will be updated.
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