Red Bull is set to receive a strong performance boost from Honda for the upcoming straights of Azerbaijan it is reported.
The Milton Keynes outfit has sat as the third best team predominantly in 2019, even though Max Verstappen has beaten at least one Ferrari at each of the first three races.
Chassis problems have been blamed for the lack of performance but it was always anticipated that Honda would need to make their own improvements to bring Red Bull into contention.
“Good news from Honda. For Baku, we’ll get 20 more horses,” advisor Helmut Marko was quoted by Holland’s De Telegraaf.
Team boss Christian Horner also claims updates are on their way to the RB15.
“Honda is making progress on the straight lines,” he said. “There are things in the pipeline that should help us in the near future to find that bit we are missing compared to the cars ahead of us.”
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For Verstappen, those improvements are needed as hopes of challenging Mercedes and Ferrari for the championship waver.
“We did have another good result points-wise, but during the race, there was not much action,” he told Ziggo Sport.
“To say frustrating is a bit extreme, but at this moment we lack race pace so then you need to make sure that you extract as many points as possible.
“The season is still long and we have to hope that, at a certain point, when the upgrades come, we will be able to slot right back in.”
As for Honda, it isn’t just the power which the Dutchman believes needs to be looked at.
“So far I haven’t really had any decent start,” he added. “With the Honda engine, we’re still trying to find a good start. That is something that can be improved.”