Honda powered drivers to take new engines in Russia

All four Honda drivers will receive new engines of the Spec 4 V6 engine at the Russian GP to be ready for the next race in Japan without penalties and to finish the season without any further changes, the Japanese manufacturer confirmed ahead of the weekend of Sochi.

Honda introduced the fourth engine specification in Belgium when it was used only by Kvyat in Toro Rosso while Verstappen, Albon and Gasly used the new engine in the next race in Italy.

Two races later Honda decided to give all drivers new Spec 4 engines to increase engine pool for its drivers and to use fresh engines for their home race in Japan.

Verstappen, Albon and Gasly will only take new V6 engines and get five place penalties, but Kvyat will start from the back of the grid as Honda will change all PU elements except the battery.

Honda’s reliability has improved this year compared to last season, but in the first 15 races they used as many as 19 engines, one less than Renault, which is the price they paid for their aggressive development program.

Verstappen will have his fifth engine this season, as well as Albon, Kvyat will get sixth, and Gasly the seventh engine.

Looking at our PU usage for the rest of the season, in Sochi all 4 drivers will get a new Spec 4 ICE.

With a different replacement history, Kvyat is changing all elements except the battery. He will start from the back of the grid.

The other 3 will get 5 place grid penalties. pic.twitter.com/uUrjYloO9f

— Honda Racing F1 (@HondaRacingF1) September 26, 2019

Status: Before 2019 Russian GP

Driver	Team	Engine	ICE	TC	MGU-H	MGU-K	ES	CE
Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	Mercedes	3	3	3	2	2	2
Valtteri Bottas	Mercedes	Mercedes	3	3	3	2	2	2
Sebastian Vettel	Ferrari	Ferrari	3	3	3	2	2	3
Charles Leclerc	Ferrari	Ferrari	3	3	3	2	2	2
Alexander Albon	Red Bull	Honda	4	4	4	3	3	3
Max Verstappen	Red Bull	Honda	4	4	4	3	3	3
Daniel Ricciardo	Renault	Renault	5	4	4	3	3	3
Nico Hulkenberg	Renault	Renault	6	4	4	3	2	3
Romain Grosjean	Haas	Ferrari	3	3	3	2	2	2
Kevin Magnussen	Haas	Ferrari	3	3	3	2	2	3
Lando Norris	McLaren	Renault	4	4	4	4	4	3
Carlos Sainz	McLaren	Renault	5	4	4	4	4	3
Sergio Perez	Racing Point	Mercedes	4	4	4	3	1	1
Lance Stroll	Racing Point	Mercedes	4	4	4	2	1	1
Kimi Raikkonen	Alfa Romeo	Ferrari	4	3	3	2	2	3
Antonio Giovinazzi	Alfa Romeo	Ferrari	4	4	4	2	2	4
Pierre Gasly	Toro Rosso	Honda	6	5	5	5	3	3
Daniil Kvyat	Toro Rosso	Honda	5	5	5	4	3	3
George Russell	Williams	Mercedes	3	3	3	2	3	3
Robert Kubica	Williams	Mercedes	3	3	3	2	1	1

In 2019 F1 season, drivers can use 3 ICE, 3 TC, 3 MGU-H, 2 MGU-K, 2 ES and 2 CE

ICE – internal combustion engine, TC – turbo charger, MGU-H – motor generator unit heat, MGU-K – motor generator unit kinetic, ES – energy store, CE – control electronics