Red Bull Team Principal Christian Horner has heaped praise on new power unit supplier Honda after what he described as a 'fantastic start' to the 2019 Formula 1 season.
Red Bull switched to the Japanese manufacturer after acrimoniously ending their 13-year relationship with Renault which yielded them four world titles. In their first Grand Prix with Honda, Max Verstappen was able to come through to finish third after qualifying fourth behind both Mercedes and the Ferrari of Sebastian Vettel.
The Japanese manufacturer also secured its first podium appearance since the sodden 2008 British Grand Prix, where Rubens Barrichello finished second for the outfit when they were a full works team.
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"A fantastic start to the season with a podium finish at our first Grand Prix with our new power unit partner Honda, who haven’t finished in the top three since 2008," said Horner.
"Max put in a remarkable performance today, and after a decent start and one of the day’s fastest pit stops, he was able to take advantage of the C3 tyre and make a great pass on Sebastian. He went on to put Lewis under pressure for the rest of the race, but didn’t get quite close enough."
Verstappen was also quick to praise Honda on their achievements with Red Bull, especially after being able to push in his bid to overtake Vettel on the track and attempt to hunt down Hamilton in the final stages of the race.
"I am very happy for the team and also for Honda to finish on the podium today," added the Dutchman. "Since we started working together it has been amazing and I am really enjoying the partnership, so this is a well-deserved third place for all of us.
"To be able to challenge Lewis at the end of the race and overtake Seb on-track, which around here is very difficult, is very positive. We had a little advantage with the tyres but it was satisfying to pressure Lewis even though I couldn’t get quite close enough to overtake him.
"The car was working really well and we also look strong on the straights which is hopefully a good sign for the rest of the season. I heard this is the first podium for Honda since 2008 so I am very happy that I managed to achieve this for them today."
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