Marti_EF3 wrote: ↑09 Feb 2022, 19:37
No Honda branding anywhere. Just that small HRC logo where no one can see it. What a bullshit after all Honda did. Again the ego are driving them... So disapointed tbh, no reason to back that team anymore
I think you are being unreasonable Marti, Honda didn't pay for the large logos last year, Red Bull & Alpha Tauri put them on out of goodwill. AFAIK, Honda just supplied the free power units as per every year before since 2015 (they didn't get any larger logos on the McLaren in exchange for paying half of Alonso's salary either!).
As a technical partner, the HRC logo is on the car like other Red Bull technical partners. It was probably quite some time ago that the uniforms and livery were signed off -- Red Bull signing Oracle as a sponsor on the basis of moving the Red Bull logo to where the Honda/Tag Huer logo used to be, and putting Red Bull Powertrains on the FIA entry forms as the engine name. There is still space on the Red Bull for Honda to return as a sponsor and it is entirely plausible that Honda could return as a sponsor and power unit naming sponsor for 2023.
Red Bull are still likely to run a red & white livery at Suzuka this year too:
"The engine will be branded as a Red Bull engine," Horner confirmed, but said that Honda's presence is likely to be acknowledged. "We still have an affiliation of branding which will be announced later in the season. They won't be totally invisible."
https://racingnews365.com/exclusive-hor ... da-in-2022
diffuser wrote: ↑09 Feb 2022, 19:25
So does the lack of Honda branding mean that they're buying "$$$" the PUs from Honda ?
Yes, Red Bull are likely paying for all the expenses from 2022 onwards (additionally all the staff from Honda F1 Milton Keynes moving on to the Red Bull Powertrains payroll), that was probably the arrangement AFAIK. The question is whether Honda want to arrange a sponsorship deal (signage in exchange for reduced fees I guess) and to what extent. As I said, Honda didn't actually pay to be the title sponsor of Red Bull Racing in 2021 AFAIK, Red Bull did that as part of goodwill to make sure this ongoing supply deal (despite Honda withdrawing from F1) could work going forward.
Compared to R&D expenses, naming rights sponsorship is not all that expensive yet it's not something Honda took up with McLaren, for example, despite reportedly contributing to McLaren beyond supplying free power units.
Marti_EF3 wrote: ↑09 Feb 2022, 19:59
Yes, if the final livery on Bahrein continues to show that HRC logo no one sees and no one knows wtf is. They deserve to lose only because of it's own egocentry.
It was announced all along that they would be Red Bull' branded. Honda pulled out of F1, they didn't want their brand on it. The HRC logo shows that Honda is involved, everyone knows HRC is Honda Racing in bikes and now it is replacing the Honda Racing F1 name too. Everyone knows that the power unit is a Honda, does it matter what it says on the entry list or sponsor roster?
I guess Williams going to "Mechachrome" is the most similar example:
There's no Renault logo
anywhere, despite all Williams success with works Renault engines.
A converse example is that Honda didn't make sure McLaren could have a supply from Mugen and still have Honda support, instead McLaren went to Ford. I don't know whether Dennis necessarily sought out a Mugen supply or not though, or how competitive Mugen V10s were compared to Ford customer-spec V8s.
P.S And I imagine Honda continues to supply free PU to them??
I wouldn't have thought so.
Marti_EF3 wrote: ↑09 Feb 2022, 20:25
Sad to see a brand like Honda acting like this after winning a Championship
You know they are Japanese. They would lose face if the new CEO is seen to be immediately reversing the previous CEO's decision of withdrawing from F1 which was widely publicised. I'd say it is a still possibly that the Honda name reappears with Red Bull in 2023.