2
Max Verstappen and Pierre Gasly are set to start this weekend's Italian Grand Prix from the bak of the grid as they are fitted with the upgraded Honda 'Spec 4' power unit.
Honda introduced the upgrade at Spa-Francorchamps last weekend, with Alexander Albon and Daniil Kvyat taking on the new unit, sending both to the back of the grid after qualifying.
However, neither driver raced the Spec 4 engine in the race. This weekend, the other Red Bull and Toro Rosso will use the updated version, which sees both exceed the quota for component usage across the season.
Power unit usage prior to the Belgian Grand Prix
| # | Team | Driver | ICE | TC | MGU-H | MGU-K | ES | CE |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 33 | Red Bull Racing | Max Verstappen | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| 10 | Toro Rosso | Pierre Gasly | 5 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 2 |
The strategy was pre-planned for Honda, as it looks towards its home race in Japan next month.
"We now go from one classic track to another, from Spa to Monza for the Italian Grand Prix, which is the last race in Europe this year," said Honda F1 director Toyoharu Tanabe.
"It is one of the highlights of the season and also the home race for one of our teams, Scuderia Toro Rosso. From a PU point of view, the main development is that we plan to run the Spec 4 PU with all four drivers for the first time, after just Albon and Kvyat ran it in Belgium.
"For their first race with Spec 4, Gasly and Verstappen will therefore take grid penalties and start from the back of grid, but we believe they can still race strongly on Sunday.
"We gathered useful data in Spa, which we have used to make changes to PU settings and calibration in preparation for this race. We will try to maximize the potential of Spec 4 and hope to get another positive result, maintaining the momentum we gained in Spa."
Verstappen will be looking to recover after he was eliminated from the Belgian Grand Prix on lap one, while the other three Honda-powered cars finished inside the top ten.
Grand Prix of BelgiumLocal time
Grand Prix of BelgiumLocal time
Bahrain International Circuit - Winter testing
M. Verstappen
C. Sainz jr
C. Leclerc
Bahrain
Bahrain
Bahrain International Circuit
Bahrain
Bahrain International Circuit
Saudi Arabia
Jeddah Street Circuit
Australia
Albert Park
Japan
Circuit Suzuka
United States of America
Miami International Autodrome
Monaco
Monte Carlo
Canada
Gilles Villeneuve
Spain
Circuit de Catalunya
Austria
Red Bull Ring
United Kingdom
Silverstone
Hungary
Hungaroring
Belgium
Spa-Francorchamps
Netherlands
Circuit Zandvoort
Italy
Monza
Azerbaijan
Baku City Circuit
Singapore
Marina Bay Street Circuit
United States of America
Circuit of the Americas
Mexico
Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez
Brazil
Interlagos
United States of America
Las Vegas Street Circuit
United Arab Emirates
Yas Marina Circuit
724,258 comments on Red Bull Racing
966 members have this team as their favourite
Tweets about Max Verstappen
767,993 comments on Red Bull Racing 673 members have this team as their favourite Tweets about Red Bull Racing
Replies (2)
Login to replycalle.itw
Posts: 8,527
Was only a matter of time. Honda's been good at not blowing their PUs on track, but they are still a stretch from Ferrari and Merc'. And seeing as they bring some new calibs to Monza too, this could be where we see whether Max had a point or whether it was him excusing himself.
Ram Samartha
Posts: 1,172
Should be fun to watch.