2020 Was Honda’s Best F1 Season Since 1991
The 2020 Formula 1 season was a particularly tough one, with many races being cancelled or postponed, no fans present to watch the show and COVID-related restrictions. Yet, despite the difficulties, Honda-powered cars did really well. In fact, in terms of number of podiums, this year has been Honda’s most successful since 1991.
Between Aston Martin Red Bull Racing and Scuderia AlphaTauri, the Honda-powered cars put together 3 wins, 14 podiums and 20 top five finishes along with 41 points-paying finishes.
Additionally, Honda’s RA620H was the only engine fielded that wasn’t penalised this year. What a shame that they’ll soon be out of Formula 1 altogether.
For more on this, check out the press release below.
PRESS RELEASE
The 2020 Formula 1 World Championship was one of the most challenging in decades as the global COVID-19 pandemic delayed and then compressed a 17-race season into 23 weeks of competition.
But showing the challenging spirit inherent in Honda’s philosophy, the engine manufacturer responded with one of its most successful seasons in the last three decades. The Aston Martin Red Bull Racing and Scuderia AlphaTauri teams put together three wins, 14 podiums, 20 top-five results and 41 points-paying finishes, with a driver lineup of Max Verstappen, Alex Albon, Pierre Gasly and Daniil Kvyat.
More impressively, given the extremely tight schedule, was the reliability of the Honda Power Unit (PU). The RA620H engine answered the bell with four cars at each race and Honda was the only manufacturer in the field not to receive Power Unit-related penalties this year.
Honda drivers made it to the top ten on the grid 46 times out of a possible 68, including three races where all four of them were in the top half of the grid together.
Things continued to show well for Honda once the races started. Three of the four Honda drivers earned podium finishes, including the first career win for Pierre Gasly. Each driver also earned a top-four finish and the Red Bull pairing scored enough points to finish second in the F1 manufacturers points, the highest placing for a Honda team since the Lucky Strike BAR Honda team finished in the same position in 2004.
Further season highlights included a pair of wins and a pole for Verstappen as he scored 11 podium results, the most for a Honda driver since Ayrton Senna tallied 12 top-three runs in 1991. Albon earned his first two career podiums, including being part of a double podium in Bahrain, while Kvyat put together a strong end to his year, finishing a season-best fourth at Round 13 and qualifying in the top 10 in each of the last three races.
The provisional 2021 F1 race schedule comprises 23 events, beginning March 21 in Melbourne, Australia and ending December 5 in Abu Dhabi.
About the Author
Subhash Nair Written work on dsf.my. @subhashtag on instagram. Autophiles Malaysia on Youtube.
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