Max Verstappen: "We couldn't have wished for a better result today in our final race with Honda here together.
It's been amazing and I'm really proud of what we have done this weekend. We made all of the right calls during the race, were constantly pushing and our tyres weren't overheating so much due to the colder tyre temperature which helped us. Yesterday was a beautiful day for us and the key to the win was to start from pole. We maximised everything we could and to follow this up with the win is fantastic. We know our limitations and still have work to do. We are just finding where we can push the car to the limit and need to maximise everything that we can to get the best out of the car and make it more balanced. Finally, this is a perfect send off for Honda and our relationship is something I will never forget. I've enjoyed my time with them and how they work: they are so professional and dedicated and they have given me so much. Together to win four Drivers' Championships and two Constructors' Championships is unbelievable. It did cross my mind whilst driving that it would be insane to win here today and at a home track for Honda, so that gave me a bit of motivation as well. It's a proper send off and we couldn't have wished for a better weekend."
Yuki Tsunoda: "It's tough today because I wanted to at least finish in the points. I am happy with the race in terms of what I have learnt but not in terms of result, so it's mixed feelings. I was feeling a lot of support from the crowd, every lap it felt more and I wanted to give something more back to them. At least I know I did the maximum I could in the race and these 53 laps gave me so much to learn about the car. I now know what kind of things I need to work on. I was stuck behind cars all day in traffic so it's hard to know the full race pace of this car but, every lap of the 53, I was building up my confidence in the car. That confidence level is now completely different from the beginning of the weekend to now, I feel positive about that, but I am still disappointed because it is a home Grand Prix and it's only once a year. I need to reset before Bahrain and I am sure compared to what I was feeling, in terms of car and in terms of confidence it will naturally be better there. I will understand more about the car, and I am excited for the next one, I just need to do better in qualifying. A big congrats to Max, it is good to see one of the Honda engines win at our home Grand Prix, in their final year of collaborating with Red Bull. And finally, a special thanks to the Japanese fans, I feel like there were more than ever at the track and I feel very honoured to represent them. I am very happy to be able to drive in front of them as an Oracle Red Bull Racing driver, with a Honda engine."
Chrisitan Horner: "What a race! An imperious drive from the front secured a fourth consecutive win at Suzuka for Max, the Team and of course our engine partners Honda who we owe a debt of thanks and gratitude for their support over the years. In reality though the hard work was done yesterday. It has to be one of the best weekend's of Max's career, one that further underlines Max as the best in the world currently. Suzuka is a driver's circuit and boy did Max deliver. Equally, credit has to go to the engineering Team as well for turning things upside down after Friday and pushing together to get the job done. It was a solid performance for Yuki. The nature of the race meant overtaking was hard to come by throughout, but he made some ground and will only improve as he continues to settle into the Team the next few races."
Check out our Sunday gallery from Suzuka here.
sign in