Honda reveals hidden Verstappen power unit upgrade

Honda has outlined the improvements made to Max Verstappen's power unit ahead of the Belgian Grand Prix.

Verstappen fitted a new power unit after the summer break after collisions at both the British and Hungarian Grands Prix left Red Bull with damaged engine components.

The Dutchman subsequently won the washed-out Belgian Grand Prix before dominating his home race at Zandvoort and looked set for a podium when crashing out in Italy as he tangled with Lewis Hamilton.

Despite announcing its withdrawal from F1 at the end of the season, Honda introduced a new upgrade to its power unit during the summer with an updated energy store fitted to Verstappen's car.

Honda F1's head of power unit development Yasuaki Asaki explained: “This new ES has been developed in a project that has taken several years, with an aim to combine improvements in energy efficiency with significant reductions in weight.

“In what will be the company’s final season in the sport, Honda F1 has managed to introduce the new ES - fitted with a lighter, low-resistance, highly efficient and ultra-high power battery cell - just in time for the start of the second half of the season."

The ES upgrade was permitted under regulations because Honda and Red Bull had used the 2020 specification throughout the opening half of the season.

Asaki added: “In order to achieve the ultimate goal of defeating Mercedes and winning the championship before leaving F1 at the end of the 2021 season, we recognised the need to enhance performance.

"As such, the development plan for the new ES was brought forward substantially from the original goal of 2022 to introduction during the 2021 season.”

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