Red Bull will begin the season with an upgraded Honda power unit at its home race this weekend.
Team principal Christian Horner confirmed the team will use its ‘spec two’ Honda from the beginning of the season.“We have an engine upgrade as we essentially introduce what would have been engine number two, which becomes our first engine,” he said.
The team will also bring some updates for the RB16 which had been planned for earlier, cancelled rounds of the championship.
“There would have been updates at the first European races at Zandvoort and Barcelona, there would have been further updates for Montreal, so of course all the updates that were in the pipeline prior to the shutdown, plus whatever we’ve learned subsequent to the shutdown, have been implemented to the car,” he said. “So there are subtle revisions all over the car as part of that update process which I’m sure the other front running teams have also done.”
Teams’ capacity to work on new parts has been limited due to the enforcement of an earlier and extended factory shutdown due to the pandemic.
“In all aspects of the car there has been an awful lot of work go into and it’s been a race against the clock to get those updates onto the car since reopening the factory at the beginning of June,” Horner added.
Red Bull scored its first victory with Honda as an engine supplier at its home race last year. Horner said the relationship between the two “feels much more integrated” now.
“We enjoyed a great debut season with Honda winning three races, and of course now we’re looking to build on that,” he said.
“They’re ambitious, they share the same ambitions that we do, they’ve been working tremendously hard during the off-season and of course come into this year with higher expectations. It’s a key part of the car and a key partner for us as we move forward and look to mount a challenge for championships in the future.”
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2020 F1 season
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Robbie (@robbie)
30th June 2020, 14:05
Nobody?
Ok…Go Max Go!!!
Anon
30th June 2020, 19:23
Yep, nobody.
RB13
1st July 2020, 10:38
Cringe.
Only Facts!
30th June 2020, 14:11
Last year Verstappen won after falling behind at the start, rowing through the field with Honda’s blessing to blow up that engine if he had to. Message from the pit was “you can use the OT button, but make sure you do overtake when you use it“. Also Mercedes had their engines turned down (and Ferrari had theirs turned up :)).
So we can say it’s a clean sheet of paper. It’s the first race of the year, Mercedes probably have fixes for that issue, Ferrari engine hard party mode is off, Perez will come knocking for Q3.
I’m ordering some extra pop corn right now!
Stephen Crowsen (@drycrust)
30th June 2020, 18:36
If what Chris says is true then you’re not going to be eating much popcorn.
Ronald (@mosquito)
30th June 2020, 16:55
I would be highly surprised if Renault and Merc show up with the same engines as in Australia. We will have to wait and see who performs best!
Can’t wait!
Chaitanya
30th June 2020, 17:09
Either Toto or Allison had announced a few days back the PU is getting a big upgrade for Austrian GP.
niki101
30th June 2020, 18:47
@Chaitanya
No, they didn’t; only aero updates.
Honda is the only PU-manufacturer that announced an upgrade so far.
anon
30th June 2020, 19:50
niki101, it has been reported on the Motorsport Network that Ferrari is bringing an updated engine to the Austrian GP, along with an upgraded gearbox.
Jim (@sterling)
1st July 2020, 11:35
If we dont have the season finalized, how do we know how many engine components are available to use without penalty? Is it still 3 ICEs for the duration of the season, no matter how long or short that is?
John S
1st July 2020, 22:02
so can they chnage to a different engine that what was in the cars in australia without penalty or have it count as one engine used?