Red Bull boss Christian Horner has praised Honda for their development following the first upgrade in Baku.
There were conflicting early messages as to the type of improvements that would come from the second power unit with Helmut Marko predicting a 20 horsepower gain.
That was later played down but regardless, the improvement would see Max Verstappen and Pierre Gasly set the fastest race pace for quite some time.
“It’s been positive. They had a strong race, and then we could run the engine a little bit harder in the race as well. So it’s all part of that evolution,” the Red Bull boss explained.
“There were no issues with the previous engine that we have, so they’ll be used on Fridays.”
Because of the continued upgrades, the next of which will likely come around Canada, it does grid penalties will come into play later in the year but Horner is unconcerned.
“We were always planning this year to take more than three engines. This is part of that – for them to catch [Mercedes and Ferrari] they’ve got to push the boundaries, which is exactly what they’re doing,” he added.
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So far this year, Red Bull has appeared to struggle more with the chassis rather than the engine due to issues with the tyres and set-up.
Improvements are being made in that area too, although for the upcoming Spanish Grand Prix, usually a big race for upgrades, the RB15 won’t get a big overhaul.
“It’s fairly subtle and it’s just evolution,” Horner explained. “It will be the usual front and rear wing upgrades. It’s an evolution rather than revolution.”