Tost reflects on Honda success as partnership winds down

Franz Tost has saluted Honda as its title-winning alliance with Red Bull approaches its conclusion.

Having powered Max Verstappen and Red Bull to a string of world titles, Honda is preparing to join forces with Aston Martin in 2026, with Red Bull set to run its own engine program in collaboration with Ford.

Tost, who stepped down as Toro Rosso-Alpha Tauri boss at the end of 2023, told Servus TV he recalls how sceptical rivals were when talks with Honda began.

“It was 2017, and there was an exhibition in London. We were already in talks with Honda. Then people from McLaren approached me and asked, ‘What do you want to achieve with them?’” the Austrian recounted. “I told them, ‘Keep quiet, and we’ll talk again in five years.’ The fact is that those people were gone five years later, while Honda became a success in Formula 1.”

McLaren’s failed partnership with Honda did not surprise him. “It didn’t work because there was no cooperation or information sharing – McLaren kept everything to themselves,” Tost explained. “With us, the connection was immediate. 2018 was difficult, but in 2019 they won their first race. And the rest of the story with Red Bull is already known.”

The 69-year-old praised Honda as one of motorsport’s benchmark companies, saying: “Motorsport is part of the company’s very philosophy. That comes from Honda’s founder, he wanted to use motorsports as a way to train engineers in a highly competitive environment before they returned to the factory. That philosophy still holds true today. And I must say it was a fantastic collaboration.”