Masashi Yamamoto, ex Honda Formula 1 managing director, will be providing his services to the Red Bull team. The news shows the pace at which RB F1 team is working on its power unit.
Last year, Honda announces its retirement from the sport. However, Red Bull stepped up to replace its engine provider. It announces to produce its own powertrains and take over the Japanese engines.
During transition period, Honda will provide manufactured engine units to Red Bull. Reportedly, Honda has shifted its staff, that helped Max Verstappen win the world championship title, to other projects.
Recently, it emerged that Honda’s F1 chief Yamamoto have said good bye to the company. Reportedly, he will be providing consultancy to Red Bull through his own firm.
He claims that this move will establish a point of contact between two parties. He will be working towards a healthier and smoother working relationship between them.
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“We have established a new company,” he said. “We want to do something that makes people happy, and if we win in F1, then fans will be happy with that.
“We’ve signed a contract with the company at Red Bull Powertrains. The company has me, at the request of Red Bull’s Christian Horner and Helmut Marko, to support them.
“It’s a contract between companies, so it’s difficult to speak about details, but as one of the members of Red Bull Powertrains, I will undertake work that will help them.”
“If, for example, they want to understand Japanese culture and Honda’s culture, and have a closer and better relationship with Honda, we can support it. Basically it’s a bridge between Red Bull and Japan.”
Yamamoto claims that his decision to leave Honda was made after its retirement from the sport.
He said: “I decided that in March of last year.”
He added: “I was appointed director of motorsports in 2016. My goal was to win the SUPER GT championship at first. I was able to achieve that in 2018 [with Naoki Yamamoto and Jenson Button].
“For the next three years, I was dedicated to F1. From the beginning, I thought that this work was the culmination of my life at Honda. And I thought I could make use of everything I had experienced there.
“I was wondering if we could win with Red Bull for the first time in the first year, and then have a good [championship] fight with Mercedes in the second year. But that wasn’t the case.
“But, in the third year, with Verstappen’s driving ability and the strong Red Bull team we managed to win the championship.”
