Red Bull pays tribute to Honda with special Japanese GP livery

Red Bull has unveiled a special livery for Formula 1’s upcoming Japanese Grand Prix, paying tribute to its engine partner Honda.

The Suzuka race will be Honda’s last home event with the Milton Keynes-based outfit before the latter collaborates with Ford from 2026 onwards.

A white livery will adorn the RB21, inspired by the Honda RA272 which Richie Ginther drove to Honda’s maiden F1 win at the 1965 Mexican Grand Prix.

The livery evokes Japan’s national flag; the shade of white on the Red Bull differs slightly – for weight reasons – from the original design. The bulls on the engine cover will appear in metallic red, while the nose features the same red sun as the RA272, symbolising the Land of the Rising Sun.

The Honda logos on the car have been tweaked to versions from the 1960s, while the nosecone also features a memorial logo celebrating the 60th anniversary of Ginther’s historic victory.

The livery is reminiscent of the white Red Bull from the 2021 Turkish Grand Prix – also a tribute to Honda after that year’s Japanese GP was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, in a season that marked the engine supplier’s official farewell to F1 – though it kept providing engines to Red Bull’s squads in subsequent campaigns.

The new design is also very similar to the Racing Bulls VCARB 02’s full-season livery, which is set to remain unchanged this weekend.

A symbol of good fortune in Japan, the red-and-white colour scheme will mark the start of Yuki Tsunoda’s Red Bull career, as the 24-year-old replaces Liam Lawson with high expectations in the Milton Keynes camp.

“To be honest, I never expected to be racing for Red Bull at the Japanese Grand Prix,” Tsunoda said last week at a Honda event in the brand’s Aoyama headquarters.

“This is the final year of Red Bull and Honda’s partnership, so getting to race in Suzuka as a Red Bull Racing driver feels like fate. Everything has fallen into place in just the right way for me to be standing here today.

“Of course, I was happy about joining Red Bull, but when I thought about it carefully, the idea of suddenly racing for Red Bull at the Japanese Grand Prix felt so unreal.

“I don’t want to raise expectations too much, but for this Japanese Grand Prix, I want to finish on the podium. That said, I know it won’t be easy right from the start.

“My priority is to first understand the car, how it behaves compared to the VCARB. If I can naturally enjoy driving it as I get familiar with it in FP1, then the results will follow. And if that leads to a podium finish, that would be incredible.”