04/09/2019
NEWS STORY
Honda has confirmed that all four of its drivers will run the Japanese manufacturer's latest-spec power unit at Monza this weekend.
Introduced at Spa last weekend, it was only supplied to Alex Albon and Daniil Kvyat, while their teammates, Max Verstappen and Pierre Gasly stuck with the old unit.
Though Verstappen retired on the opening lap after colliding with Kimi Raikkonen, the three other Honda-powered drivers all finished in the points, Albon finishing fifth and Kvyat seventh, despite starting the race from the back of the grid (18th and 19th).
Honda and its teams had been considering the options for some time, aware that when he switched to the new power unit, Verstappen would be consigned to the back of the grid. With Singapore likely to be a strong circuit for the Red Bull package, the Austrian team has opted to run the new unit sooner rather than later, some having predicted that the spec-4 unit might not be run until Sochi.
"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," confirmed Honda F1 boss, Toyoharu Tanabe. "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," he added. "We will try to maximize the potential of Spec 4 and hope to get another positive result, maintaining the momentum we gained in Spa."
Having provided its latest spec unit for its customer teams, Alfa Romeo and Haas in Belgium, this weekend Ferrari will run the unit at its all-important home race.