Verstappen: Honda alone will take Red Bull forward in 2019

Max Verstappen believes that switching to Honda power in 2019 will give the team a significant "step forward" before they even begin to develop their car. Red Bull will ditch Renault after 12 years in partnership at the end of this season, having grown frustrated with the French marque's poor performance.

Renault powered Red Bull to four consecutive drivers' and constructors' titles with Sebastian Vettel at the wheel, but it has been a different story in the V6 Hybrid era, which has been dominated by Mercedes.

Regular sniping between Red Bull and Renault has eroded the relationship over time, but Verstappen, Christian Horner and Helmut Marko have all spoken positively of their chances with Honda.

Mark has even gone as far as to target title glory in 2019 or 2020, aiming to make Verstappen's F1's youngest ever champion and eclipsing Vettel's record.

On Marko's comments, Verstappen told Ziggo Sport: "We hope so, of course, but we have to wait and see what the start of the season will look like. I believe we will make another step forward, just with the engine alone."

Verstappen is yet to get his hands on Red Bull's 2019 challenger on the simulator, but some parts have been put to the test and a Honda PU has also been tried at Milton Keynes.

"No, not yet. However, we did test the new suspension and such a few times in the simulator."

On the Honda PU, Verstappen added: "We do have all simulations. A Honda engine is running on the test bench.

"At Red Bull Racing we have a test bench that we can link to the simulator, so you can run the engine and analyse all data."

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