Verstappen: I prefer to win with an unreliable car than be consistently slow

In what can be perceived as another swipe at Renault, whom Red Bull have ditched for Honda power, Verstappen told Sky F1, "I prefer, maybe, to win a race and then blow up in one than be consistently slow."

Records show that at the time of the season finale in Abu Dhabi, Honda had found neither reliability and lagged significantly behind the benchmark Mercedes and Ferrari packages.

It is also no secret that the Japanese manufacturer used their first year with Toro Rosso as a test bed for the 2019 package which will also be bolted on to the back of the Red Bulls.

Furthermore, it is the first time during the F1 turbo hybrid era that Honda are supplying more than one team, albeit both teams owned by the energy drinks organisation.

Verstappen continued, "I think this [past] year has already been pretty good. They have taken a lot of engines just because they could, because they were at the back or something happened."

Although fully confident that Red Bull have made the right call, Verstappen is nevertheless tempering expectations, "It all looks very promising but I want to be realistic. First, we still need to build a car, and then the engine should be reliable as well, and powerful."

Honda provides Verstappen and the Red Bull organisation with a clean stats page, however, it should be noted that with Renault power Red Bull won eight Formula 1 World Championships, scored 59 grand prix victories and their drivers celebrated podiums on 160 occasions.

All of Verstappen's five F1 victories were scored with Renault power, including his maiden victory at the 2016 Spanish Grand Prix.