Red Bull will have the Acura name on the car in place of Honda in the US GP in Austin this week. The North American high-performance wing of Honda returns to F1 after 14 years.
Acura has had a fruitful association with Formula One in the 1980s and 1990s. The name that was once present on the helmets of F1 legends Alain Prost and Ayrton Senna is set to return to F1 in a one-off livery for Red Bull.
With the Acura branding replacing the Honda name on the car, this is the second week in a row where Red Bull have run special liveries as a homage to their current Japanese engine supplier. Before this was the white livery in Turkey.
Team principal Christian Horner declared: “As Honda’s high-performance marque in North America it seems only right and proper that Acura should be present at the pinnacle of motorsport.” He also added: “Formula 1 and we are delighted to welcome them back for this year’s United States Grand Prix.”
Horner looked back on the glory days of the Acura name in F1. “I remember Alain Prost winning the US Grand Prix in 1989 with Acura on his visor.”
The Red Bull boss jokingly mentioned that he hopes that having the Acura name on the car this weekend at the Circuit Of The Americas would bring them similar luck.
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Assistant Vice President of Acura National Sales, Emile Korkor chimed in: “I’ve been a huge Formula 1 fan my whole life, and as a kid growing up in Canada I remember when Acura appeared on the helmets of Senna and Prost at the Canadian Grand Prix.”
Red Bull and Honda very happy with each other
When Red Bull parted ways with long-time engine supplier Renault in 2018 due to repeated reliability issues, they joined hands with Honda and ever since their performance has been on an upward trend.
Now that Honda are on their way out of the sport once more, they are ensuring they give it their all in the battle to get Max Verstappen his first Championship title.
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Even Verstappen has praised Honda and their efforts to bridge the gap between rival team Mercedes. All these special liveries serve the purpose of thanking an engine supplier who has helped them greatly in the last few years.
Ahead of the US Grand Prix this Sunday, Verstappen holds a narrow lead of just six points against title rival Lewis Hamilton.
