Formula 1: 2019 a major season of resurgence for Honda

The 2019 Formula 1 season has proven to be a major season of resurgence for Honda, and all signs point to that continuing.

After several years of either not being involved in Formula 1 or being nothing shy of an afterthought in it, Honda’s resurgence is officially underway.

Scuderia Toro Rosso, the Red Bull Racing junior team, began running Honda engines in the 2018 season, which was Red Bull Racing’s 12th consecutive season running Renault engines. This move was thought to be a move to pave the way for an eventual Renault to Honda switch by Red Bull Racing, and that is exactly what happened.

In June of 2018, the Milton Keynes-based team announced that they would be ending their 12-year relationship with the French manufacturer upon the conclusion of the season and that they would be switching to the Japanese manufacturer ahead of the 2019 season.

Honda’s most recent stint in Formula 1 at the time came from the 2015 season through the 2017 season when they supplied engines for McLaren, a team with which they had experienced tons of success in their previous partnership.

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The Woking-based team ran Honda engines from the 1988 season through the 1992 season. During this time, McLaren won 44 races, four constructor championships and four driver championships.

Yet from the 2015 season through the 2017 season, McLaren never finished higher than sixth place in the constructor standings, they never had a driver finish higher than 10th in the driver standings, and they never recorded an individual race finish of higher than fifth. The relationship of the two parties with one another grew toxic to the point where Honda are no longer willing to work with McLaren, not even in IndyCar, even for the 2020 season, which will mark three years since they cut ties.

As a result of Honda’s struggles, there were many doubters as to whether or not Red Bull Racing’s engine switch, despite the prospect of additional power and reliability to be able to challenge frontrunners Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport and Scuderia Ferrari, would be worth it.

Through the first 11 races of the 21-race 2019 season and especially over the last several weeks, those doubters have been proven wrong.

If they haven’t already caught them, Red Bull Racing are well on their way to catching Mercedes. Max Verstappen has won two of the last three races, and he took the first pole position of his career for the Hungarian Grand Prix, which is scheduled to take place later this morning. He is also the only driver who has not finished a race outside of the top five at all so far this season.

But as awesome as this recent surge in performance has been for Red Bull Racing, it has been even better for Honda.

Red Bull Racing have been here before, and recently. With Renault as their engine supplies, they won four consecutive constructor championships and four consecutive driver championships with Sebastian Vettel, who now drives for Ferrari, from the 2010 season through the 2013 season.

But it has been ages since Honda have been relevant for something other than Fernando Alonso memes on social media.

This season has changed that.

Verstappen opened up the season with a third place finish in the Australian Grand Prix, Honda’s debut race as Red Bull Racing’s engine supplier. This was Honda’s first podium finish since Rubens Barrichello finished in third in the 2008 British Grand Prix driving for the works Honda team. It was their first podium finish as an engine supplier to a customer team since Jenson Burton finished in third in the 2005 Belgian Grand Prix driving for BAR.

The 21-year-old Dutchman then won the season’s ninth race, the Austrian Grand Prix, This was Honda’s first victory since Button won the 2006 Hungarian Grand Prix driving for the works Honda team. It was their first victory as an engine supplier to a customer team since Gerhard Berger won the 1992 Australian Grand Prix driving for McLaren.

To put this in perspective, Berger was the teammate to the late, great Ayrton Senna at the time. Senna won three races that season driving his Honda-powered McLaren.

Two races after his Austrian Grand Prix triumph, Verstappen won the German Grand Prix, and he was joined on the podium by third place finisher Daniil Kvyat of Toro Rosso.

This marked Honda’s first double podium finish since Berger finished in second ahead of Senna in third in the 1992 Portuguese Grand Prix, and it marked their first podium finish involving a win since Senna won the 1992 Italian Grand Prix over Berger in third.

Additionally, it marked the first time two separate Honda teams finished on the podium in the same race since McLaren teammates Alain Prost and Senna finished in first and second place in the 1988 Australian Grand Prix ahead of Lotus’ Nelson Piquet in third.

In the matter of a few months, Red Bull Racing and Verstappen have effectively made Honda relevant again, and in a big, big way.

After a brilliant start to a season that has marked Honda’s resurgence in Formula 1, how much higher is their ceiling? Will Red Bull Racing get back to championship form in the near future, both in terms of their performance as a constructor and Max Verstappen’s performance as a driver? It is clear that they are making steady progress, and they certainly aren’t letting up as they strive to reach that level.