Honda to introduce its Spec 3 engine at French GP

Honda will run the third version of its power unit at the French Grand Prix this weekend, confirms Honda's F1 boss Toyoharu Tanabe.

The Red Bull duo of Max Verstappen and Pierre Gasly will be fitted with the new components, while Toro Rosso's Daniil Kvyat will also receive the new parts.

Having already reached the limit for some power unit components, Kvyat is set to take a grid penalty for the race, while the Red Bulls will escape with facing a demotion.
 

Component usage as of the Canadian GP

*Drivers can use 3 ICE, TC and MGU-H penalty-free, and 2 MGU-Ks, ES and CE penalty-free.

Alexander Albon is set to receive the upgrade at a later stage. Honda specifies that the new parts are related to the internal combustion engine and turbocharger.

"At the Paul Ricard circuit we will be running an upgraded Spec 3 Power Unit on Max, Pierre and Daniil’s cars," stated Honda F1 boss Toyoharu Tanabe.

"The changes to the previous specification are mainly around the ICE and the turbocharger. In this instance, our engineers at the Sakura, Japan R&D facility have worked closely with other departments within Honda, specifically the Aero engine development department.

"Their work and ours has many common technical features. For example, our 2018 update to the MGU-H, which dramatically improved its reliability, came as a result of our collaboration with them.

"In producing this Spec 3 PU, we have updated the turbocharger thanks to the knowledge and technology of the Aero engine department in the area of aerodynamic design, working alongside turbocharger manufacturer IHI.

"Our test bench data shows a power increase over the previous version of our PU, however we know that we have not yet matched the figures from the manufacturers currently leading the championship.

"But it’s a step in the right direction and we will continue our development throughout the rest of the season, calling on the resources of the whole company."

Red Bull and Max Verstappen have two podium finishes to their name so far in 2019, coming at Australia and Spain.

With the team's home race in Austria coming up in just over a week, it is likely that the energy drink squad is using France to evaluate the Honda upgrades before the race at Speilberg.