Honda brings 2022 engine forward: 'Need to close the gap to Mercedes'
F1 News
- GPblog.com
2021 is Honda's last year in Formula 1, but that is not stopping them from pulling out all the stops for 2021. The staff feel that the story is not yet complete and want to impress in 2021 with the 2022 engine.
Honda gives everything
Honda has decided to introduce the 2022 engine already in 2021. Actually, the engine would be used from the moment the new technical regulations come into force, but now Honda has pulled the plug on its F1 project, the team wants to do everything possible to be successful in their last year.
''We are still behind Mercedes. The gap is smaller than before, but that gap is still there. It is not easy to make that step, because every part of the engine has to be improved. We just have that gap to Mercedes and have been looking at all kinds of ways to close it'', Toyoharu Tanabe told The Race.
New engine for Red Bull Racing
Honda finally decided to bring forward the engine planned for 2022. No easy task for the manufacturer, but the staff were determined to make the most of their last year in F1. The story with Red Bull Racing has not yet been successfully concluded and so this risk was taken.
''It would have been easier to postpone that engine, but we wanted to close the gap on Mercedes and this was a way to do that. We are doing our best to close the gap to the top and we decided to introduce the new engine for that reason'', concludes Honda's chief executive.