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Gasly: Honda update appears to be working well

Gasly: Honda update appears to be working well

22-06-2019 08:20
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Jake Williams-Smith

Pierre Gasly says the updated power unit Honda has brought to the French Grand Prix is working as intended.

The Japanese manufacturer has introduced its newest specification of the power unit for Gasly's home event at Paul Ricard, a circuit which Red Bull could be in the mix at.

Speaking after the conclusion of Friday's running, Gasly said the team would need to go over the data to ensure everything was working at its peak but that on day one of the update, things were going smoothly.

“Today was good," he said.

"We tested a lot of new parts on the car and now I need to sit down and analyse with the guys what worked and what didn’t. Regarding the new Honda engine, it’s difficult to say much as I’ve just come out of the car but we will look at everything tonight and push it more tomorrow.

"The general feeling was good, the reliability was completely fine and in terms of performance, we need to see if it’s delivering what we expected. The conditions and also the tarmac made it difficult with the tyres and grip."

The Frenchman also added that tyres were not holding up as expected, with race strategy a crucial point for the team to analyse ahead of qualifying and the race.

"In general it’s a bit different to what we expected coming into the weekend but it’s the same for everybody. In FP1, there was less grip initially but this afternoon it seemed a bit better so let’s see if it keeps increasing like this.

"The soft tyres seemed to fall away so we need to see what’s best in terms of strategy and what we can do for Sunday.”

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