Red Bull now deny 20 bph boost from new engine

Red Bull chief Helmut Marko admits that the new Honda engines which will be provided for Max Verstappen, Pierre Gasly, Alex Albon, and Daniil Kvyat for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix will not have a 20 horsepower boost after previously stating otherwise.

In 2018 Red Bull made the decision to switch engine supplier from Renault to Honda, and although whispers during pre-season suggested they would be able to compete with Ferrari and Mercedes this year, they have yet to be in contention in any of the three races in 2019 so far.

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Marko said a few weeks ago that the team would be receiving a 20 bhp injection of pace via new power units, but has now backtracked.

"The 20 horsepower that is now being mentioned is not correct, it is less than that. We can, however, push the engine longer without compromising reliability,” the Austrian told Auto Bild.

Albon and Kvyat will have used three engines between them after this upgrade, meaning they will be near a penalty, but Marko says the next upgrade won’t be for a while.

"The next upgrade is planned for mid-year,” he added.

Toyoharu Tanabe has provided context to the decision to provide the new engines before the Azerbaijan GP.

"This weekend, we will introduce the Spec 2 version of our internal combustion engine (ICE) across all four cars right from the start of the weekend,” the Honda technical director told reporters in Baku.

"One of the reasons for bringing it to this race is that we found that Kvyat’s PU problem in China was down to a quality control issue.

"The main benefits of Spec 2 are improved durability and life and better reliability. It also offers a slight improvement in performance."

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