Red Bull and AlphaTauri F1 drivers ride in Honda Civic Type Rs

While Sir Lewis Hamilton alternates between a high-powered motorcycle and a Mercedes-Benz G-Wagen and Sebastian Vettel opts for his trusty bicycle, the drivers from the Red Bull Racing Team (RBR) and the Scuderia AlphaTauri Honda drivers roar up to the paddock in a Honda Civic Type R instead.

While the Civic Type R looks comfortably like it has been part of the paddock’s scenery for years, the model only started working as official cars in 2018 for the AlphaTauri drivers and 2019 for the RBR drivers.

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In case you don’t already know, the AlphaTauri team, formerly known as Scuderia Torro Rosso which in turn used to be known as the Minardi F1 Team, started using Honda engines for the 2018 season while RBR only made the switch to Honda firepower in 2019.

So, it’s not a surprise that Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez also swapped their Aston Martin and Renault Megane company car for the Honda Civic Type R instead. Note Perez never had a chance in an Aston since he only just transferred to the RBR team this season. 

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In fact, AlphaTauri driver Pierre Gasly has been piloting a Type R as his company car since 2018. The Frenchman even said in an interview that he has already tried the Type R on the iconic Route Napoleon in the South of France.

Why did Honda issue four Honda Civic Type Rs to Verstappen, Perez, Gasly, and rookie driver Yuki Tsunoda as their company car?

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The question is why not? The Honda Civic Type R comes with a long legacy as well as a Nordschleife certificate to boot. The Type R lapped ‘The Green Hell’ in 7 minutes 43.80 seconds in 2017. In 2020, the Type R also lapped the Suzuka Circuit in Japan in 2 minutes 23.933 seconds.

The Honda Civic Type R is powered by a 2.0-litre VTEC Turbo engine that churns out 310 PS and 400 Nm. The engine is mated to a six-speed manual transmission that sends power to the front wheels and the car is capable of reaching a top speed of 272 km/h.

It was popular amongst JDM fans, but now it’s going to earn a place in F1 fans’ hearts as well.

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