Max Verstappen: Honda say Red Bull can fight Mercedes, Ferrari again in Germany

Red Bull

Honda say Red Bull can fight Mercedes, Ferrari again in Germany

The Bulls to prosper on the straights?

Martin Macdonald

Wednesday 24 July 2019 17:00

Red Bull can take advantage of the characteristics of the Hockenheimring at the German Grand Prix in order to challenge Mercedes and Ferrari for the race victory this weekend, says Honda director Toyoharu Tanabe.

In the last race at the British GP at Silverstone, Red Bull looked to be enjoying the track and just missed out on a podium position as Pierre Gasly finished fouth, while Max Verstappen’s assault on the top three was ended thanks to a rear-end collision with Sebastian Vettel.

With the track at Hockenheim sharing similar aspects to Silverstone, Tanabe believes it could be another productive weekend for Red Bull, who receive their power units from Honda.

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“After the Silverstone race, just a short distance from our European F1 headquarters, we now head off for the second back-to-back pair of races of this year, in Germany and Hungary,” the Honda technical director told the Honda F1 site.

“It’s a busy time, immediately prior to the summer break. Hockenheim is one of the classic old tracks on the calendar and can be considered a power circuit because of the long straights in the first half of the lap.

“Therefore, in terms of the demands it places on the PU, it has some similarities with the last round at Silverstone, because much of the lap is at full throttle.

“That is encouraging, as we performed well there, therefore we will be working hard to try and secure another good result this weekend.”

After a period of no success with McLaren, Honda powered their way to their first race win in 13 years in Austria a month ago as Red Bull’s Verstappen romped to victory at the Red Bull Ring.