“I got goose-bumps” – Honda’s F1 boss Masashi Yamamoto goes down the memory lane to pick his favorite GPs with partner teams McLaren and Red Bull.
Honda had an incredible first stint with McLaren last century, winning four consecutive Drivers’ and Constructors’ titles from 1988-91.
F1 Testing, Paul Ricard Circuit, 19th December 1992. Great sound and a rare sight of Michael Andretti in a McLaren-Honda MP4/7A. #F1pic.twitter.com/q1RhepPadz
— F1 in the 1990s 🚦🏎🏁🏆🍾 (@1990sF1) December 20, 2021
Unfortunately, the same couldn’t be said of their reunion last decade, the two organizations failing to strike the right chord.
This led Honda to switch to Red Bull and its family team Toro Rosso/Alpha Tauri, a much happier journey to report. The icing on the cake being Max Verstappen’s maiden title victory this season, of course.
Masashi Yamamoto, the Honda F1 managing director, though, has not missed out on suggesting the McLaren failure played a crucial role in their stupendous success with Red Bull, helping them break the unprecedented dominance of German giants Mercedes.
“All the fundamental basis we have now that allows us to fight for the championship was built up in the McLaren days, so we achieved a lot of things there.
“It was just a shame we respected each other too much and it meant it didn’t really work well, because we respected them and they respected us but it didn’t quite click.
“But we learned many things, and that learning has accelerated our development in this Red Bull era.
“We learned a lot about it during the McLaren days, which can be seen as a positive as we got something out of it. It was tough but we learned many things.
Honda’s best memory with McLaren and Red Bull?
Yamamoto also revealed his favorite moments with both the teams, choosing a couple of ‘firsts’.
“My best memory [with McLaren] was 2017 and the Spanish Grand Prix qualifying. I got goose-bumps. It was when we got our first Q3 result that year, seventh place – it was a great performance from Fernando [Alonso].
“[With Red Bull] the first podium in Australia, the first race together, was the on-track highlight of our time together so far (Verstappen finished third).
“I was really happy we could achieve such a result with them, and it was the result that gave me true confidence it was the right decision and we can win together with this team. I actually expected the first win.”
