Why Honda can now suddenly load the power unit a lot more

Honda has introduced updates in France, and Red Bull Racing and AlphaTauri have benefited from them at Paul Ricard and last week at the Red Bull Ring. Italy's Autosprint reports that reliability problems troubled the Japanese engine supplier during the first Grands Prix of 2021.

In France, Honda made an update regarding reliability, so the engine can be loaded for a longer time at a higher level. It provides a high top speed on the straights and in combination with the new oil from ExxonMobil this is a more than excellent combination.

Honda kept some in reserve

As said Honda kept some power in reserve for the first six Grands Prix of the season. "To avoid problems at the beginning of the year Honda drove with a scaled-back engine, both in the electrical area and in the combustion chamber," is what the magazine wrote after the Steiermark Grand Prix.

An additional advantage is that the air in Spielberg is quite thin. The Red Bull Ring circuit is located far above sea level, so the maximum power of the combustion engine is lower and the electrical power is quite important. Honda has made significant strides in the latter area in recent years, so that's a good thing for Max Verstappen.