Honda has confirmed Red Bull and Daniil Kvyat will use the new ‘Spec-3’ engine at this weekend’s French Grand Prix.
Team advisor Helmut Marko confirmed last week that the Japanese supplier would be bringing another upgrade following the introduction of the ‘Spec-2’ in Baku back in April.
And after a period of 18 months where Honda has made big gains in reliability, technical director Toyoharu Tanabe revealed the same collaboration is now working on performance.
“At the Circuit Paul Ricard we will be running an upgraded Spec 3 Power Unit on Max, Pierre and Daniil’s cars,” he stated.
“The changes to the previous specification are mainly around the ICE and the turbocharger. In this instance, our engineers at the Sakura, Japan R&D facility have worked closely with other departments within Honda, specifically the Aero engine development department.
“Their work and ours has many common technical features. For example, our 2018 update to the MGU-H, which dramatically improved its reliability, came as a result of our collaboration with them.
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“In producing this Spec 3 PU, we have updated the turbocharger thanks to the knowledge and technology of the Aero engine department in the area of aerodynamic design, working alongside turbocharger manufacturer IHI,” the Honda chief continued
“Our test bench data shows a power increase over the previous version of our PU, however, we know that we have not yet matched the figures from the manufacturers currently leading the championship.
“But it’s a step in the right direction and we will continue our development throughout the rest of the season, calling on the resources of the whole company.”
Given the performance of Renault in Canada, where Daniel Ricciardo and Nico Hulkenberg both beat Gasly in the race, Red Bull do need a strong response in France
And Honda’s upgrade has come at the right time to hopefully achieve just that.