AlphaTauri drivers 'surprised and saddened' by Honda exit

AlphaTauri chargers Pierre Gasly and Daniil Kvyat admitted to being surprised and saddened by the announcement of Honda's withdrawal from F1 at the end of 2021.

The Japanese manufacturer that powers both Red Bull Racing and AlphaTauri justified its decision by it’s strategic need to channel its corporate resources in research and development into "the areas of future power unit and energy technologies" such as battery and fuel cell vehicles.

Honda has supplied AlphaTauri - previously Toro Rosso - since 2018, after the failure of its partnership with McLaren.

Assessing the future Gasly laments the engine supplier's retreat from F1.

"I have to admit I’m sad that Honda is leaving Formula 1 after the experiences we shared together over the past four years," said this year's Italian Grand Priw winner.

"The people at Honda have played an important role in my career and I have always loved working with them.

"But we will still be together until the end of next year and I hope we can try and fight for more wins together before then, and that Honda will be in a position to fight for the championship title."

• Read also: Honda open to shifting engine development to Red Bull from 2022

Gasly's team mate Dany Kvyat says the news of Honda's exit was unexpected.

"I was surprised to hear the news that Honda will leave F1 at the end of next year," commented the Russian.

"It is sad on a human level as I enjoy working with their engineers, and disappointing from a racing point of view because they have worked so hard to give us the best possible power unit and we have seen it deliver some excellent results so far.

"The Honda guys at the track are really committed and I’m sure they will continue to push while they are still in the sport."

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