Max Verstappen claims the strong reliability of Honda is allowing Red Bull to make progress in other areas of the car.
After totting up seven engine-related retirements in 2018 with Renault, the Milton Keynes outfit has had none since switching to the Japanese manufacturer with only a driveshaft problem causing Pierre Gasly to stop in Baku.
That is an immense achievement considering the problems with McLaren and occasionally last year with Toro Rosso, but Verstappen explained how that platform is reaping benefits elsewhere.
“We did have mechanical failures from the car and not the power unit last year, but they also came because we never had the reliability to test up to the limit”, he said via GPFans.
“Honda is spending so much time on the dyno and then we also find out our limits from the parts on the car, so we never had that before.
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“You never had an idea if your car was strong enough or not and you only found that out from retiring, so the whole preparation before you get into a season is so much better.
“The car and the power unit are very reliable.”
Strong reliability allied with Verstappen’s consistency has allowed the Dutchman to establish himself in third in the Drivers’ standings, comfortably ahead of both Ferraris and now on the tail of Valtteri Bottas.
However, Max says Red Bull and Honda certainly can’t feel it’s like a job well done just yet.
“We just seem to execute the weekend better than them [Ferrari] and bring the results back,” he said explaining the gap.
“But they are still very fast, some tracks a bit faster than other tracks – with longer straights, of course, they seem very dominant.
“It is still not very clear whether we are second or third [best]. One thing is for sure, Mercedes is still ahead and that is what we have to target.”