Red Bull to run special white livery at 2025 Japanese GP to honour Honda

The 2025 Japanese Grand Prix will reportedly see Red Bull celebrating their ending partnership with Honda with a special white livery. With the Japanese manufacturer moving to Aston Martin for 2026 as the new regulations come into play, this will celebrate an extraordinarily successful partnership that started in 2019.

This partnership has been fruitful for the Milton Keynes team, with Max Verstappen winning four championships since it began, and the team, two championships. While the hybrid era was mostly dominated by Mercedes powertrains, Honda was able to develop a strong powertrain into an equally as potent chassis. 

Honda confirmed its exit from the sport for the end of the 2021 season, with the Japanese manufacturer merely aiding Red Bull with technical support and, of course, the building of the power units. But its main aim was to turn its focus to electric powertrains and more sustainable fuelling.

As we now know, the 2026 regulations suited Honda with the use of 100% sustainable fuels and an increased focus on hybrid power, so they are returning in partnership with Aston Martin from when this change takes place next year.

The Milton Keynes outfit, on the other hand, is partnering with Ford in a bid to hit the ground running.

Special helmet of Yuki Tsunoda, Visa Cash App RB F1 Team

Photo by: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images

With the upcoming Suzuka campaign being the last time Honda will be raced with Red Bull in its home country before the split, it comes as no surprise that the two brands will be doing something special. And according to reports, this comes in the shape of a white livery. White has always been an important colour in Japanese motorsports. "Championship white," it's called within Honda circles. 

In what could be very similar to the Racing Bulls livery, Red Bull could reproduce something similar to that of the livery they ran for the 2021 Turkish Grand Prix where they raced a white RB16B. They also ran a white livery with David Coulthard on the RB4 in promotion of the Wings of Life charity.

Matching the car, Verstappen has also revealed a special white helmet that he will be racing with on the weekend. Posting the reveal to X, he captioned photos of the new design with a simple, "For you," followed by the Japanese flag. 

The Japanese Grand Prix will see Yuki Tsunoda take a seat beside Verstappen in the RB21 as Liam Lawson heads to Racing Bulls to regain his confidence.