Honda: "In that sense this is a very big loss for us"

Toyoharu Tanabe didn't expect Lewis Hamilton with a new internal combustion engine to be so fast in the Brazilian Grand Prix weekend. However we shouldn't expect that Max Verstappen will start with a new ICE for the same reason, says Tanabe.

By AS-Web Tanabe was asked about the effect of Hamilton's new engine at Interlagos. "As Toto said, Mercedes' ICE is suffering from a lot of degradation and that's why they changed the part. They admit that's why we've regained some ground in terms of power. The speed of from sprint qualifying was really phenomenal and Sunday's race was also very fast."

If a new power source provides so much extra horsepower, the question automatically arises whether it wouldn't make sense to give Verstappen a new powertrain as well in one of the last three Grands Prix. Like Helmut Marko, Tanabe says it's not likely that the Japanese will come up with a new engine. "I think the characteristics [of the Honda engine] are different from Mercedes, such as the degree of degradation in relation to the mileage."

Big loss for Honda

Hamilton managed to make up seven points in Brazil by taking his sixth win of the season. The top man was asked if it was just one of 22 races lost or if it meant more than that towards the final sprint of the 2021 season. "It's certainly one of 22, but with both titles up for grabs, every race is more important than ever, one slip up irreversible. In that sense, this is a very big loss for us," Tanabe concluded.