Honda's 'secret weapon' will link up with Mercedes'

Honda is hot on Mercedes' heels with their latest engine. Research by Auto, Motor und Sport has shown that Mercedes and Honda deliver the best engine and that the difference between the two superpowers is minimal.

Honda finds the connection with Mercedes

Since Formula 1 switched to V6 hybrid engines, Mercedes has been in a class of its own. The German team has been dominating F1 since 2014, and in large part that's thanks to its engine. In 2019, Ferrari suddenly came very close, but that didn't quite turn out to have been done in a legal way. Honda is now getting that right.

According to an analysis by AMuS, Honda has made a huge step forward with its new turbocharger. This 'new weapon' was developed by Honda engineers in the jet engine department. According to Red Bull, Mercedes would only be better in terms of repairing the MGU-H at this point. Apart from that Honda is on the same level.

Renault and Ferrari lagging behind

This huge difference became clear during the past Grands Prix. Since Honda brought their new engine to France, Red Bull are a lot faster on the straight. Red Bull themselves point at the wings and the low downforce setup, but AMuS believe that Honda has probably been able to increase the power output because they have found more reliability.

Although engine development is frozen, Honda can still upgrade an engine. This seems to be the case, and that is why the Red Bull-Honda package is so strong right now. According to the German medium, Renault and Ferrari are still far from this top. Renault would be 20-25hp away from the top, and Ferrari even 25-30hp. Those two manufacturers have set their sights on 2022.