Max Verstappen's Emotional Honda Farewell and 2026 Red Bull Power Unit Reshuffles

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Honda Racing president Koji Watanabe bid an emotional farewell to four-time F1 world champion Max Verstappen, hailing him as incredibly popular in Japan and a key figure in their Red Bull partnership since 2019, according to GPFans reporting yesterday. Watanabe told FormulaPassion that Verstappen's faith in Honda engineers motivated them, calling Abu Dhabi 2025 a sad yet fitting end to seven triumphant years before Honda shifts to power Aston Martin in 2026, per their official motorsports overview.

Red Bull confirmed Verstappen will race with number 3 on his car this season—his favorite digit after number one—swapping from the champion's 1 he held through 2025 after narrowly missing a fifth title, as detailed on their site and Formula1.com's full 2026 driver numbers list. The switch nods to legends like Michael Schumacher and Jacques Villeneuve who won titles with 3.

Speculation about his long-time race engineer Gianpiero Lambiase moving to Aston Martin fizzled, with PlanetF1 and GPFans confirming yesterday that Lambiase stays at Red Bull as head of racing and Verstappen's engineer through 2026, a relief for the Dutch star who calls him more than a colleague—a friend—post-Abu Dhabi win.

Meanwhile, former Verstappen chief mechanic Lee Stevenson was promoted to Audi F1 team manager ahead of their 2026 debut, PlanetF1 notes, while Red Bull bolsters its in-house power unit with Honda and Mercedes hires to chase Verstappen's fifth crown, per F1 Oversteer.

No fresh public appearances or social buzz popped in the last few days, but whispers of Verstappen eyeing serious non-F1 racing persist from GPFans. Red Bull eyes his 250th GP start in Azerbaijan and Zandvoort farewell as milestones in his 12th season at age 28. With 2026 regs looming, these ties solidify his Red Bull reign amid engine shakeups.

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