The separation of Honda and Red Bull Racing is now in full effect. But the two parties have not completely let go of each other yet. Newest fact is that former Honda F1 boss Masashi Yamamoto continues to play an important role between Red Bull and Japan.
The fact that Honda will stop developing the Formula 1 power sources for Red Bull Racing and others hit like a bomb. Yet the rift between the two brands turns out to be less poignant than thought. In a friendly way, the F1 branch of Honda has been taken over by the energy drink manufacturer. Honda's know-how and staff members have also gone with it. The latest news is that Yamamoto will continue to play an important role in Red Bull's power unit department.
Yamamoto will remain a consultant
Yamamoto has left Honda, but will stay on as a consultant between the two parties, reports Motorsport.com. He must ensure that the relationship between Red Bull and Honda remains strong. For this role as a consultant, Yamamoto set up a new company so that he is effectively between the two parties. The former Honda boss says it was a special request from Red Bull team boss Christian Horner and advisor Dr. Helmut Marko.
Yamamoto cannot go into details, as the collaboration is a detailed contract between multiple companies. However, Yamamoto does say that he will mainly act as a bridge between Red Bull powertrains and Honda, so that the process can go as smoothly as possible. As an example, he says he can help Red Bull better understand Japanese culture and Honda's culture. Yamamoto is like a bridge between Red Bull and Japan.
Honda is 'officially' out of F1 as from this season, but the mere fact that the boss at Honda that was working with RB to develop the engine for the past few seasons is still so involved this year, means Honda is is definitely still in the background playing a role.
Wonder if this is a smart way of getting around the budget cap.
Honda puts in their $$ and effort to get the engine better, but doesnt impact RB budget, so it isnt counted under their cap, since Honda officially isnt in F1 anymore or is no longer working with RB or any F1 teams.
Hmmm.... Smart!
In other words, Honda will continue to be heavily involved. Even special constructs are put in place to keep that going. You almost wonder if it was not easier to just stay officially in F1, but I guess the green image Honda is chasing prevents that
But blood crawls where it cannot go ;-)
The problem is its not Honda!
Will they have the capabilities to do serious development later down the line?
They took over their entire (or at least most of them) F1 team with their engineers. And then combine that with new blood from Merc and perhaps later down the line Porsche. They will have the knowhow AND the resources. The budget from RB is more or less unlimited.
The fact that RB started out as a drinks company (and let's be honest, it still is their largest source of income), but they are more and more a tech company. It must hurt MB and other car manufacturers that a drinks company could be so competitive. Which I think is exactly the reason why they do it. You cannot ask for better exposure.
The people working in the F1 project (and RB is doing much more than just F1) are no drinks manufacturers, but professionals who know what they are doing.
To me it is just mind boggling that a drinks company could grow this large, so that they are present in just about any extreme sport on this planet and be competititve. And even in F1 have not one but two teams.
Money makes money I guess...
Maybe they will even develop a better power unit on their own. Who knows!
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