Red Bull Racing is bringing Nineteen Sixties elegance from Honda’s first stint in Formula 1 to Suzuka for this weekend’s Japanese Grand Prix. The team’s RB21 cars shall be decked out in a Honda RA272 tribute livery, a retro scheme intended to rejoice the sixtieth anniversary of Honda’s first F1 win and the ultimate 12 months of the automaker’s partnership with Red Bull. The gesture carries a bit more meaning, as Japanese driver Yuki Tsunoda will debut with the team at Suzuka.
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A Honda RA272, with American driver Richie Ginther behind the wheel, led every lap and won the 1965 Mexican Grand Prix. It was the primary time a Japanese automotive had won an F1 race, a landmark moment for the country’s fledging auto industry. In actual fact, Honda had only been constructing cars for 2 years at that time, with the S500 roadster debuting in 1963. The factory team would only win yet another time before withdrawing from the championship after 1968.
Red Bull’s retro liveries features all the suitable details
The RA272’s striking livery was a product of its time. Sponsored liveries were banned from international competition until 1967, and F1 entries were required to compete with their automotive in specified national colours. As a Japanese team, Honda’s automotive was obligated to be painted white with a red circle, mimicking the Japanese flag. The pearl white used on the RA272 continues to be offered by Honda on its modern models as Championship White.
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Red Bull’s translation of the RA272 livery includes a similar shade of white, differing just for weight reasons. The red sun stays on the front of the automotive, used as a number plate for Max Verstappen’s No. 1 and Tsunoda’s No. 22. The normal red-and-yellow Red Bull logo is now metallic red on the engine cover. The fashionable Honda wordmark has also been swapped for the sans-serif wordmark used on the Nineteen Sixties F1 automotive. The nosecone also features two small but meaningful additions: an era-accurate Honda logo and a decal commemorating the RA272’s win.
While each Red Bull and Honda are gracious in what their partnership was in a position to achieve, it’s ending for a reason. The ability unit deal reached a breaking point by 2020 over the team’s lack of competitiveness. The narrative was flipped on its head after Verstappen won the championship in 2021, nevertheless it was too late to salvage the alliance long-term. Red Bull bought the engine’s IP and rebranded it as a Red Bull Powertrains product ahead of the 2022 season. Red Bull will produce its 2026 power unit in-house with Ford support, while Honda will supply Aston Martin.
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