Verstappen left “smiling” after first Honda-Red Bull F1 run

Max Verstappen says a “very positive" first run in Red Bull’s Honda-powered 2019 Formula 1 car left him “smiling”.

Red Bull revealed its first-ever F1 car to be powered by a Honda power unit - the RB15 - on Wednesday and conducted an initial shakedown test on the same day at Silverstone.

Lewis Larkam

14 Feb 2019

Verstappen left “smiling” after first Honda-Red Bull F1 run

Max Verstappen says a “very positive" first run in Red Bull’s Honda-powered 2019 Formula 1 car left him “smiling”.

Red Bull revealed its first-ever F1 car to be powered by a Honda power unit - the RB15 - on Wednesday and conducted an initial shakedown test on the same day at Silverstone.

Verstappen got behind the wheel of Red Bull’s 2019 challenger, which adorned a special “one-off” livery, to complete 100km of permitted running around the British Grand Prix venue as the Milton Keynes squad used up one of its two filming days.

“The day's done, the first few kilometres with the car,” Verstappen said in a short video posted on social media.

“After my first run I was smiling, very happy with how the car was behaving, plus the engine as well - very positive.

“It's a really nice group of people to work with as well,” he added. “I just can't wait to get started now for Barcelona and start working towards Melbourne.

“I think it was a very positive day, so I'm very happy about it.”

Red Bull opted to end its long-term partnership with Renault engines in favour of a switch to Honda after the Japanese manufacturer made encouraging gains throughout 2018 with its sister team Toro Rosso.

While Verstappen said the team is “expecting a lot” from the marriage of a Honda power unit alongside a strong chassis, he acknowledges there may be some stumbling blocks in the beginning.

"We’re all very positive, but it also needs to take a bit of time - it’s not like from race one it can be perfect,” the Dutchman explained.

“For sure there will be moments where as a team we’ll make mistakes or it’s maybe not going as we want it to.

“What is very important is the team and Honda are pushing really hard to improve the development.

“At the moment I am of course very optimistic, but also realistic. Time will tell how we’re going to perform.”

Mercedes also unveiled its 2019 car and participated in some promotional running on a different part of the Silverstone circuit to Red Bull on Wednesday.