Red Bull principal Christian Horner believes their recent upturn in form will prove to be “very important” in keeping Honda in F1.
Max Verstappen drove a faultless race at Interlagos to claim victory, while behind him Pierre Gasly took advantage of the chaotic closing stages to take P2, even getting the better of Lewis Hamilton in a drag race to the line.
It was a double victory for Honda over Mercedes power, while Verstappen had also set a pole position-worthy time back at the Mexican GP.
Despite Red Bull’s recent resurgence though Honda, who supply power units to Red Bull and junior team Toro Rosso, are not yet committed to F1 beyond 2020.
But Horner thinks that Red Bull can be a “very important” factor in swaying their decision to stay.
“I think it’s very important,” Horner told Motorsport.com when asked about the significance of Red Bull’s form for keeping Honda in the sport.
“Honda is seeing great progress and I think they can really see [the reward] after five years of commitment and effort. You have to remember how things were when they came back into the sport.
“I think that they have done a great job in keeping their heads down with great passion and pride to get themselves into this position.”
Honda’s F1 technical director Toyoharu Tanabe, who has spearheaded Honda to their best season in F1 since returning in 2015, also hopes that the company will choose to stay.
But, he admits that he has no involvement in the decision.
“I hope this result impacts our future with a positive side,” he said.
“I’m not involved in the process of the decision. Our board members are working on that. When we are ready, we will announce.”
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