Fernando Alonso Trolled By Honda With 'GP2' Jibe After German GP Win

Honda Racing F1 was back on the top step of the Formula 1 podium for the second time this season after Max Verstappen won a rain-soaked German Grand Prix at the Hockenheimring on Sunday. The Japanese manufacturer then took a dig at former F1 driver Fernando Alonso with a cheeky tweet showing that they still have not buried the hatchet.

Alonso, who drove with McLaren-Honda for three seasons between 2015 and 2017, constantly criticized the Japanese manufacturer for their below-par engines. The Woking-based team struggled at the back of the grid for the most part of their partnership and struggled constantly with reliability issues.

The Spaniard was very vocal in his criticism of the manufacturer and at Honda’s home race in Japan in 2015, Alonso screamed “GP2 engine” when he was overtaken easily by Max Verstappen in his Toro Rosso. Honda has not forgiven him for his public shaming of their engines and as a result, the company is also said to have denied him a power unit for his Indy500 tilt earlier this year.

Honda partnered with Red Bull Racing for the start of the 2019 season and their fortunes have changed drastically – they now have the third best power unit on the grid behind Mercedes and Ferrari and on circuits that are not overly power sensitive, they are able to challenge the frontrunners. Verstappen won their first race of the season in Austria and the second in Germany to show that they can be amongst the best again.

And to top it off, it was not only the Red Bull team, but their sister team Toro Rosso, who are also reaping the benefits as Daniil Kvyat also made the podium in Germany. It is a far cry from two seasons ago when they were bringing up the rear with McLaren, who always blamed the power unit rather than the car.

And the “GP2” jibe from Alonso seems to have stuck with the engine manufacturers from Japan and they were quick to take a dig at the Spaniard using the same jibe.