Honda are leaving F1 at the end of the season and, on the weekend which was due to be their home Japanese GP, Red Bull and AlphaTauri are paying tribute to the engine manufacturer with special liveries; Red Bull running predominantly white RB16B car

Red Bull and AlphaTauri will run special Honda tribute liveries at the Turkish GP as a tribute to their outgoing F1 engine supplier.

This weekend’s race was originally scheduled to be the Japanese GP – Honda’s home race – but as the Suzuka round was cancelled, the two Honda-powered teams have opted to pay tribute to the manufacturer in Istanbul.

Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez’s Red Bull cars will be predominantly white, inspired by the RA 272 car, in which Richie Ginther secured Honda’s maiden F1 victory in 1965.

AlphaTauri will also race with a modified livery this weekend, carrying the word “arigato” – the Japanese word for “thank you” – on their rear wings.

“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 team 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.”

Honda are leaving the sport at the end of this season after three years with Red Bull and four with AlphaTauri. While Honda struggled with McLaren before that, their engine progress has helped Red Bull return to the championship fight.

Red Bull are taking on Honda’s engine production from 2022 onwards, assuming the IP of the existing Power Units and moving it in-house at their new Red Bull Powertrains division.

Verstappen is two points behind Lewis Hamilton in the championship ahead of F1 2021’s 16th race of 22.