Red Bull

Red Bull Honda power unit rebadged ahead of French Grand Prix

Red Bull and Honda are in the final year of their F1 partnership

Sam Hall

Thursday 17 June 2021 10:31

Honda has revealed the new name for its championship-leading F1 power unit ahead of the French Grand Prix.

Honda is in its final year in F1 and in a bid to promote its electric technology, the Japanese manufacturer has moved away from the current designation of 'Honda Hybrid'.

Instead, both Red Bull and AlphaTauri liveries will now feature the branding 'Honda e:TECHNOLOGY' with the change being introduced in time for free practice on Friday.

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Via a press release, Honda said: "Honda e:TECHNOLOGY is the name given to our concept of high-efficiency electrification technology, which aims to lead to a carbon-neutral society.

"It is already in place in a broad range of products, from motorcycles, to automotive and power products.

"This technology is also applied to components in Honda’s F1 Power Unit, such as the MGU-K and MGU-H, contributing to our championship challenge."

Verstappen excited to have two cars in championship fight

With neither Max Verstappen nor Lewis Hamilton finishing last time out at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, Sergio Perez took full advantage to score his first victory with Red Bull, the second of his F1 career.

As a result, Perez now sits third in the drivers' standings with Red Bull extending its lead over Mercedes to 26 points in the constructors' battle.

Verstappen said: "It’s great to have two cars up at the front fighting for the championship and also scoring the points. Baku was a great example of that and how it should be done.

"It’s great that Checo was able to make the gap to Mercedes bigger in the constructor’s championship and that he’s now third in the driver’s championship."