Horner: “We’ve been very impressed by the approach of Honda"

Red Bull are entering 2019 with a brand new Honda engine following their split from Renault last season and Christian Horner believes the engine manufacturer has made great progress over the winter period.

Red Bull split with Renault last season but had sister team, Toro Rosso testing the Honda power unit in 2018 as preparation for their switch this season. The Honda engines completed the most mileage of any in the first week of pre-season testing with Red Bull’s initial concerns over reliability and power being put to rest for now.

In an interview on crash.net Horner spoke about the progress Honda made over the winter: “I think Honda have had a good winter and certainly they are reducing that gap significantly but of course what you don’t know is what the others have done.

“If they have found another 50kw then we’ve got a big issue.

“We’ve been very impressed by the approach of Honda and the progress that they’ve made.”

Horner also spoke about the possibility of grid penalties to allow for the development of the Honda engine and believes when it’s done tactically it reduces the impact.

“In Russia last year Max was already back in the top five by lap six so if you pick the right venue and assists the development of the power unit then strategically you can lessen the pain,” added Horner.