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Honda President Sparks Max Verstappen Red Bull Exit Rumors as He Reveals Loyalty to the Engine Manufacturer

Published 04/12/2024, 12:00 PM EDT

Is Max Verstappen more loyal to Red Bull or Honda? You see, Red Bull only started challenging Mercedes for wins more often in the Turbo-hybrid era only when they shifted to the Honda power units in 2019. Honda eventually helped the Dutchman claim his first world championship in 2021, and the two titles after that. And Max has always appreciated Honda for their contribution to his success. But with the Red Bull-Honda partnership ending in 2025, and Max locked in with Red Bull till 2028, will the Dutchman prefer to stay with the Milton Keynes squad or will he follow the Japanese manufacturer to Aston Martin?

There are already plenty of rumors about Max Verstappen leaving Red Bull at the end of 2024. And it turns out that Honda’s CEO, Koji Watanabe would not want the relationship to end with Verstappen when they stop supplying the engines to Red Bull at the end of 2025. In a recent interview with Motorsport.com, Watanabe highlighted the strong relationship between Honda and Verstappen, emphasizing the mutual trust and affection from Honda workers towards the Dutch driver.

Looking back at their success together, Watanabe recalled Verstappen’s victory at the 2019 Austrian Grand Prix, which marked Honda’s first F1 win in 13 years. “My biggest memory is him pointing at the Honda logo on the podium in Austria at the Red Bull Ring. I was there, that was a very special moment for me,” said the Honda Racing Corp. President.

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“I was standing under the podium and that day was so special. He always thinks about Honda and says ‘thank you, Honda’ a lot. He expresses his thoughts to the outside world about Honda, which is also important for all the people working for Honda,” he added. While he is definitely not happy about ending Honda’s partnership with Verstappen, he remains optimistic that their paths will cross in the future once again.

🗣️ | Koji Watanabe on Max’s appreciation to Honda
“My biggest memory is him pointing at the Honda logo on the podium in Austria at the Red Bull Ring.
I was there, that was a very special moment for me. I was standing under the podium and that day was so special.”
“He always… pic.twitter.com/Ode9Hx5k7T
— RBR News 🇳🇱🇲🇽 (@redbulletin) April 12, 2024

“I don’t think that day will come within a very short period of time. But if both continue their Formula 1 activities in the future then we hope that we can work together again one day,” Watanabe hoped. This is a clear indication that he wants Max Verstappen to consider moving to Aston Martin in the future.

It’s not just the Honda President who wants to continue with Verstappen. According to recent reports, Max himself would not want to stick with Red Bull beyond 2025 for competitive reasons.

Max Verstappen doesn’t trust the Red Bull Powertrains project

According to Michael Schmidt, a German motorsport journalist, the Verstappen camp might not trust the new engines Red Bull is developing for 2026 and that should be a good enough reason for the reigning world champion to consider moving away from the team. Schmidt also speculated that the recent spotlight on Red Bull with the supposed internal power struggle to involve Christian Horner will be an ideal reason for Verstappen to justify walking away.

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🗣️ | Max Verstappen on the Honda split with Red Bull
“From our side, it’s a bit unfortunate how that all turned out."
"A few years ago they said they were going to stop so then Red Bull set up its whole engine division and now they come back." pic.twitter.com/6H8LUgn8f9
— RBR Daily (@RBR_Daily) May 25, 2023

“From the beginning, I had the feeling that the Verstappen clan, of course with Jos Verstappen at the top and also with (Raymond, ed.) Vermeulen wants to get rid of Red Bull one way or another, in any case in 2026, just because of the engine issue,” Schmidt was quoted by F1 Maximaal.

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Do you think Max Verstappen will follow Honda to join Aston Martin in the future? Share your insights in the comments.

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Written by:

Veerendra Singh is a Motorsport writer at EssentiallySports who specializes in F1 coverage. Having followed the sport for more than 12 years, Veerendra excels in covering trend-setting articles and has covered Max Verstappen, Lewis Hamilton, Toto Wolff, and Charles Leclerc extensively during the 2023 F1 season. His Dale Earnhardt Jr post regarding the North Wilkesboro Speedway was shared by Save The Speedway Twitter account.

Edited by:

Himanshu Sridhar

Honda President Sparks Max Verstappen Red Bull Exit Rumors as He Reveals Loyalty to the Engine Manufacturer

Max Verstappen doesn’t trust the Red Bull Powertrains project

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