Pink Bull Racing switched to Honda engines for the 2019 season when it ended a 12-year partnership with Renault. Though Honda left System 1 after the 2021 championship, the turbocharged 1.6-liter V-6 powering the RB21 this yr nonetheless makes use of a Honda-developed engine. Through the years, F1 driver Max Verstappen has appeared in numerous commercials selling manufacturing automobiles, together with the Civic Sort R.

However from 2026 till not less than 2030, RBR will use a brand new powertrain co-developed with Ford. The four-time F1 champion is already starring in a loosely veiled advert for the Blue Oval. Using shotgun in an RS200 pushed by journalist Chris Harris earlier than hopping behind the wheel of a Mustang GTD, the Flying Dutchman didn’t maintain again on his emotions about front-wheel-drive automobiles: “I feel it’s actually boring. For me, it’s like anti-driving. I drove generally within the simulator. It’s just like the worst factor ever.”

As you’ll be able to think about, Verstappen didn’t conveniently overlook he used to advertise the CTR not that a few years in the past. Nonetheless the quickest front-wheel-drive manufacturing automobile across the Nürburgring, Honda’s sizzling hatch is mostly thought to be one of the crucial pleasurable FWD automobiles. However, it’s completely comprehensible why Pink Bull’s driver gravitates towards RWD.

It’s not simply because the Mustang GTD sends its V-8 energy to the rear axle, as contractual obligations take priority. Very like when Verstappen endorsed a rear-wheel-drive Honda by starring in an advert for the electrical metropolis automobile, calling it “enjoyable to drive” and a “nice electrical city car.” It wouldn’t be honest to criticize Verstappen, given it was a part of the job to say constructive issues concerning the CTR and different Honda merchandise.

Whereas CTR and GTI followers would possibly take offense at his assertion, on the finish of the day, it’s all about private preferences. Don’t carry out the pitchforks simply but. Ford itself is not any stranger to efficiency front-wheel-drive automobiles both, though the times of the Fiesta ST are over, and the Focus ST is simply months away from retirement. Had these automobiles nonetheless been round, it’s straightforward to think about Verstappen thrashing both sizzling hatch with an enormous smile on his face in an official advert.