Takahiro Hachigo, the Chief Executive Officer of Honda Motor Company Ltd, was delighted to see the breakthrough Formula 1 victory for the Honda-powered Red Bull Racing team during Sunday’s Austrian Grand Prix, with Max Verstappen coming out on top of an epic duel against Scuderia Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc.
Hachigo says Honda has gone through a lot of pain since returning to Formula 1 ahead of the 2015 season, but since they split with the McLaren F1 Team and switched their programme to first Scuderia Toro Rosso and then Red Bull, the progress has been impressive and it gives them all confidence going forward.
Sunday’s victory was the first for Honda in Formula 1 since Jenson Button won the 2006 Hungarian Grand Prix, but Hachigo praised not only Red Bull for the achievement but also Toro Rosso, who have worked endlessly and sacrificially to benefit the Honda project since the beginning of 2018.
“It is a great pleasure for us to win once more in Formula 1, especially because getting to this point has not been straightforward since our return to the sport in 2015,” said Hachigo. “First of all, I would like to thank Max and Aston Martin Red Bull Racing for this victory.
“Of course, we must also thank Scuderia Toro Rosso and all the drivers who have given so much support to the project, as well as all the suppliers and related parties.
“I want to thank all our fans. With their support, we will keep challenging as we strive towards our ultimate goal, which is to win the world championship, taking this victory as a first step. Any future success we have is also thanks to our fans who are really a part of our team.”
Hachigo says Formula 1 remains an integral part of Honda’s DNA and the result in Austria is just reward for all the hard work and commitment to the sport.
“Formula 1 was our founder Soichiro Honda’s dream and it is in our company’s DNA,” added Hachigo. “We went through some tough times over the past five years on the race tracks and in the factory.
“I am speechless when I think about the enormous effort from all the Honda staff involved in this project, who always believed in themselves and never gave up and finally reached today’s victory. I think this embodies our ‘Power of Dreams’ motto.”
