Honda responds: "Pity Max had to give up after his crash with Hamilton"

The race weekend at Monza ended in disappointment for Honda. Three of the four cars didn't finish, and the only one that did, Sergio Perez, was given a time penalty.

"This was a disappointing day for us, with three of the four Honda cars failing to finish," reads Toyoharu Tanabe's statement on the official website of Honda Racing. "Checo drove a good race and crossed the finish line third from ninth, but due to a penalty he was classified fifth, but those points are important for the championship."

Honda looks ahead after disappointing weekend at Monza

He continued: "It was a shame that both AlphaTauris were out of the race almost immediately and that Max had to retire after his collision with Lewis. However, there's still a long way to go this season and we can expect a tough battle for the championship until the end, so we'll start preparing for the next race straight away. Finally, I would like to congratulate our former partners at McLaren for their brilliant 1-2 finish," the Honda chief concluded.