Honda explains Red Bull’s performance gains amid suspicion of F1 engines

After four wins in a row and it appeared that Red Bull was ahead with its 2021 package, Red Bull came under fire in recent races for its strong performance on the straights.

Red Bull’s competitiveness on the straight improved noticeably when Honda unveiled its second engine of the season at the French Grand Prix, leading Lewis Hamilton to believe that Mercedes’ main competitor had benefited from a Honda upgrade, despite performance gains in this one The current engine rules were forbidden in the year.

Team boss Christian Horner and Max Verstappen both referred to the slimmer rear wing of Red Bull as an explanation for the superior straightness compared to Mercedes.

In a speech at the Austrian Grand Prix on Friday, Honda F1 Technical Director Toyuharu Tanabe denied rumors of a 15hp increase in his latest engine and speculation that he could now run his newest unit in higher power modes.

On the subject of matching items

“I’m very happy when it’s true, but it’s not true,” said Tanabe. “According to the current regulations, no performance updates are allowed during the season.

“This means that our second unit corresponds to the first PU in terms of specification and performance.”

On the subject of matching items

Tanabe insisted that the FIA ​​would have informed the teams of any changes if Honda had introduced reliability fixes.

“The current increase in performance is the result of hard work by Honda and the teams,” he said.

“According to the current PU regulations, we have to submit all changes. [We’re] may only be changed for reasons of reliability, costs and logistics. We have to submit in great detail [documents] first to the FIA, and the FIA ​​approved these changes.

“The FIA ​​distributes all documents to the other PU manufacturers. We therefore need the approval of the other major manufacturers in order to change individual part specifications.

“The reason we’re doing such detailed research is because a long time ago some teams improved their performance to make a change to improve their reliability.

“That’s why we’re very careful about changing the performance. It is not possible to improve performance during the season. That is my answer to this suspicion. “

According to Tanabe, Honda’s improved performance is due to a better understanding of how to maximize the power unit.

“I can say yes because we started using this new engine in 2021 since the pre-season test and then gradually learned how to use it,” he said.

“We improved our weaknesses and then built on our strengths. As a result, the base spec of performance is the same, but on-track performance has improved in my opinion.

“[Once] We understand our PU, ICE and ERS system, we go a different route each time and simulate how the balance is used for ICE and electronic systems, ”he added. “So we’re optimizing the use of the PU in terms of lap time.

“Current technical guidelines make it a little more difficult for us. We have to run qualifying and the race in the same mode. So this kind of stimulation. And then when we hit the track, we’re driving in the real world and they update this type of calibration to maximize our performance. “