Turkish GP: Red Bull and AlphaTauri to race with special liveries as tribute to Honda in Istanbul

Red Bull and AlphaTauri's cars will race with special liveries at this weekend's Turkish Grand Prix, on what was originally slated to be power unit supplier Honda's final home race at Suzuka.

The Red Bull RB16Bs of Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez will run in a predominantly white livery, inspired by the paint scheme of the Honda RA272 that Richie Ginther raced to victory at the 1965 Mexican Grand Prix.

Pierre Gasly and Yuki Tsunoda's AlphaTauris, meanwhile, will feature the word 'arigato' -- the Japanese word for 'thank you' -- on the rear wings of their AT02s.

The Japanese Grand Prix had been set to run this weekend on the original 2021 calendar before the event was cancelled due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. And with Honda set to leave Formula 1 at the end of the year, Koji Watanabe, Chief Officer for Brand and Communication Operations at Honda, confirmed that the marque had wanted to pay tribute to Honda's Japanese fans in the absence of a home race.

"Everyone at Honda is extremely disappointed that the Japanese Grand Prix has had to be cancelled," said Watanabe. "We were especially keen to race at Suzuka Circuit, as it is our last year in the sport, at a time when both our teams are performing very well."

AlphaTauri driver Tsunoda would have become the first Japanese driver to compete in a home race since Kamui Kobayashi in 2014, with his Team Principal Franz Tost saying: "It's a big disappointment not being able to race at Suzuka, especially this year, which was supposed to be Honda's last home GP."

Red Bull and AlphaTauri are set to reveal their full liveries in due course.

( With inputs from ANI )

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