Honda has announced a partnership with turbo specialist IHI as they look to optimise the performance of their engine for 2019.
The Japanese manufacturer has made tremendous gains in the second half of this season, with their Spec 3 unit reportedly surpassing Renault in terms of power output.
All of this will greatly satisfy Red Bull, who are ditching the French brand for Honda next year and this latest move is just another example of the company’s desire to improve.
“We expect this partnership to produce a notable step up in performance. Together, we will keep pushing to fight for wins,” said Katsuhide Moriyama, chief officer for brand and communications at Honda.
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IHI has worked with Honda since they returned to Formula 1 in 2015 but now it will be the specialist company working solely on the turbo and then supplying to the factory in Sakura.
“Through this new technical partnership, our aim is for the Honda PU to deliver the best possible performance, by accelerating development of the turbocharger,” added IHI’s Yoshinori Kawasaki.
“We hope that as from the 2019 season, Honda’s power unit, using the IHI turbocharger, will deliver the sort of performance that thrilled motorsport fans back in the 80s and 90s.”
Indeed, in the last turbo era, it was Honda that was the benchmark, with that history creating the high expectations when McLaren announced they would be re-collaborating four years ago.
This time, it is Red Bull and Toro Rosso that could benefit from having the trust that the Woking-based squad didn’t in the long-term.