Red Bull and AlphaTauri will race with special liveries in Turkey, marking what was supposed to be Honda's home race. The Japanese Grand Prix was scheduled for this weekend but has been cancelled for a second successive year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. However, the two Honda-backed teams will pay tribute to their departing engine supplier with special liveries on their cars at Istanbul Park. The twin Red Bull RB16B cars of Max Verstappen and teammate Sergio Perez will feature a predominantly white livery inspired by the legendary Honda RA272 car, in which US racer Richie Ginther secured the company's maiden Formula 1 win at the 1965 Mexican Grand Prix. Meanwhile, at AlphaTauri, the rear wings of the AT02 cars driven by Pierre Gasly and Yuki Tsunoda will feature the one-word message ありがとう(arigato), meaning "thank you". "We had all been looking forward to giving Honda's Japanese fans a chance to celebrate our extremely successful relationship in Formula 1, on home soil at Suzuka," said Red Bull boss Christian Horner. "With the race falling victim to the pandemic, we just couldn't let the weekend pass without paying tribute to Honda and its amazing home fans by bringing a little bit of its heritage to Istanbul. "The livery chosen for our cars pays homage to Honda's remarkable F1 journey and hopefully we can give fans another victory in those legendary colours this weekend." With Honda missing out on a second successive chance to race for victory in front of their home fans in Japan, Koji Watanabe, Chief Officer for Brand and Communication Operations at Honda added: "Everyone at Honda is extremely disappointed that the Japanese Grand Prix has had to be cancelled, while fully understanding and agreeing with the reasons behind this decision. "We were especially keen to race at Suzuka Circuit, as it is our last year in the sport, at a time when both our teams are performing very well. "We also appreciate that the Japanese fans were particularly looking forward to seeing Honda's last appearance here and Yuki Tsunoda driving in his home race. "We know that a special livery cannot replace what would have been a very exciting weekend, but we hope that Honda fans around the world, especially those in Japan, will accept this special livery as a small token of our appreciation of their continued support over so many years."
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