The Japanese manufacturer is departing ဣF1 at the end of the season with Red Bull agreeing a deal to take on the IP of the existing Honda power units and bring its production in house at its new Red Bull Powertrains di♊vision. 

As part of the transi𒁃tion, Red Bull and AlphaTauri will continue to receive their F1 power units from Honda’s Sakura facility in 2022. 

Honda has produced its most💞 competitive power unit since it returned to F1 six years ago this season and the engine has helped Red Bull mount its first sustained title bid since 2013. 

To pay respect to the work Honda has done during their three-year alliance to date, Red Bull has un☂veiled a one-off livery for the 16th round of the season at Istanbul Park. 

It was originally intended to be run at Honda’s home 𒈔event, the Japanese Grand Prix, which was scheduled to take place this weekend bef🍷ore it was cancelled due to ongoing COVID-19 issues in the country. 

The reveal Unveiling our very s♊𝓡pecial livery for the

— Red Bull Racing Honda (@redbullracing)

Red Bull’s RB16B cars of Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez will🌳 feature a predominantly white livery in a nod to Honda’s RA 272 car, in which US driver Richie Ginther claimed the Japanese company’s first F1 win at the 1965 Mexican Grand Prix. 

Pierre 𝔉Gasly and Yuki Tsunoda’s AlphaTauri cars will feature the word ‘Arigato’ - meaning thank you in Japanese - on the rear wing of the AT02. 

“We had all been looking forward to giving Honda’s Japanese fans a chance to celebrate our extremel🌳y successful relationship in Formula 1, on home soil at Suzuka,” said Red Bull team principal Christian Ho🌞rner. 

“With the race falling victim to the pandemic, we just couldn’t let the weekend pass without paying tribute to Honda and its amazing home fans by bringing a little bit o☂f its heritage 💦to Istanbul. 

“The livery chosen for our cars pays homage to Honda’s remarkable F1 journey and hopefully we can give fan🍌s another vict🔜ory in those legendary colours this weekend.”

Koji Watanabe, Chief Officer for Brand and Communication Operations at Honda added: “Everyone at Honda is extremely disappointed that the Japanese Grand Prix has had to be cancelled, while fully understanding and agree🅘ing with the reasons behind this decision.

"We were especially keen to race at Suzuka Circuit, as it is our last year in the sport, at a time when both our teams are performing very well. We 🐟also appreciate that the Japanese fans were particularly looking forward to seeing Honda’s last appearance here and Yuki Tsunoda driving in his home race.

"We know that a special livery cannot replace what would have been a very exciting weekend, but we hope that Honda fans around the world, especially those in Japan, will accept this special livery as a small token of our appreciati✃on of their continued support over so many years.”