Christian Horner, team representative of Red Bull Racing, revealed that Honda “pushed as hard as possible” to make final adjustments to the power unit by the deadline for the F1 engine development freeze on March 1.
Honda officially withdrew from F1 for the 2021 season only, but continues to work with Red Bull as part of the transition until Red Bull Powertrains builds its own power unit.
Homologation deadline for F1 engine development freeze is March 1, but MGU-K, energy store, and control electronics can be changed until September 1. After that, the F1 power unit will be frozen until the end of 2025.
Christian Horner explained that Honda was working hard to make the necessary upgrades in the final month before the homologation freeze came into effect.
“There was a month left to tackle it,” said Red Bull Racing team representative Kurschan Horner.
“Obviously, the Honda guys pushed as hard as they might, but once the homologation came down, that’s it.”
Christian Horner also rejected speculation that Honda’s F1 engine has not been significantly developed from the 2021 model, except for the addition of new E10 fuel.
“This is a completely new engine,” added Christian Horner.
Regarding the ERS renewal allowed until the September 1 deadline, Christian Horner said work would be done if Honda’s team “found an improvement”.
Honda’s involvement in F1 has changed from the beginning. Honda has officially left F1, but Red Bull’s relationship does not seem to have changed much.
However, there is one important difference. That is, Red Bull now pays for upgrades such as ERS updates.
“We are paying for technology,” explained Christian Horner.
“We are grateful to Honda for providing us with the offer to move to a power unit manufacturer.”
Category: Category: F1 / Red bull / Honda F1
