Honda to Enter New F1 Era with Red Bull and Toro Rosso

After a lot of speculation and suggestions that Honda may pull out of F1, the Japanese manufacturer pulled a volte face. In other words, Red Bull and Toro Rosso will be on the 2021 Formula 1 grid, and they will be running Honda power.

In fact, both teams confirmed the news on Twitter and are excited to enter Formula One’s new age with the Japanese manufacturer.

This will be Toro Rosso’s 4th season with Honda, having been made the guinea pig to test the Honda engine. Then, at the beginning of the 2019 season, the senior team followed suit in, signing a two-year deal up to the end of 2020.

However, in 2019,  Red Bull bagged three wins and five podiums so, and as a bonus, a podium each for Toro Rosso’s Daniil Kvyat and Pierre Gasly. So, in light of that, both teams have agreed to stick with Honda in 2021. Admittedly, in that year, there will be a massive technical overhaul, and a lot of teams will be starting from scratch.

Up until this point, Honda had been deliberating, whether or not to stay in the sport beyond 2020. The Japanese giants were keen to see the draft of the 2021 regulations in order to make a final call.

The only question that remains now is, ‘will they stay in F1 for the long-term?’. THe good news is that the new deal confirms that they will be present on the grid for at least one more season beyond next year.

Meanwhile, Verstappen’s victory and Gasly’s second place in Brazil, marked the first time that Honda-powered cars had enjoyed a one-two finish in a race since 1991. That was when Gerhard Berger led home Ayrton Senna at the Japanese Grand Prix. Now, Red Bull, Toro Rosso and all their competitors will head into the season finale at Abu Dhabi this weekend.