Max Verstappen admitted that he was disappointed to hear that Honda would return to Formula 1 with Aston Martin only a few years after pulling out of their relationship with Red Bull.
The Japanese manufacturer claimed they did not have any desire to remain in F1 when they pulled the plug on their agreement to supply Red Bull and AlphaTauri with engines, leaving the reigning champions having to build their own power units.
But the news broke on Wednesday that Honda would power Aston Martin’s challenger from the 2026 season onwards when new regulations come into effect.
Red Bull have already agreed a partnership with Ford from 2026 but Verstappen was still not happy with Honda’s sudden U-Turn.
“From our side, it’s a bit unfortunate how that all turned out,” Verstappen select members of the press, including Total-Motorsport.com, ahead of the 2023 Monaco Grand Prix.
“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.
“It’s a shame really. We’ve always had and still have a good relationship so seeing them go to Aston Martin was a shame but at the same time we are very excited on our side from 2026 onwards with Ford.”
Stability
A lot has been made of two very lacklustre races in Azerbaijan and Miami which saw Red Bull win by a considerable margin. Verstappen came out on top in Florida thanks to a late-race pass on teammate Sergio Perez.
The double world champion believes F1 needs to try and keep the regulations as stable as possible for a long period in order to bring the grid as close together as it can be, rather than changing regulations every four or five years.
“The longer you keep the rules the same the closer people will get, Verstappen added. “I think it would be smart for F1 to stick to a certain kind of car for a longer period of time.”
