F1 News, Reports and Race Results

Honda prepares for home race with engine updates in Sochi

Honda is pulling out all the stops to boost its performance next week at Suzuka, putting a series of updates to the test in Sochi that will send Toro Rosso's drivers to the back of the grid on Sunday.

Honda's new components have been in the works for some time, and the engine supplier has agreed with Toro Rosso to introduce the upgrades in Russia in order to avoid grid demotions in Japan.

"We are introducing some power unit updates on both cars here in Sochi. We're looking at more performance in the long term, which does mean penalties here in the short term," Honda said in a statement released on Thursday.

The new components are rumored to be mainly linked to Honda's ICE, but Pierre Gasly isn't sure how much of a gain the changes will bring.

"Honestly it is not precise yet, it's just an update on the engine side," said the Frenchman.

"Let's see. I don't want to say too much before we see on track tomorrow what it will do exactly. It's an update so it should be positive.

"We will surely start from the back of the grid, it's been a while since we had an update so it's all positive."

Gallery: The beautiful wives and girlfriends of F1 drivers

Keep up to date with all the F1 news via Facebook and Twitter

Michael Delaney

Recent Posts

Williams' headaches persist into Vegas practice

Williams is continuing to fight uphill battles this weekend in Las Vegas as a knock-on…

58 mins ago

Ferrari's Sainz 'not satisfied with where we are' in Vegas

It was a solid start to the Las Vegas weekend for Ferrari with Carlos Sainz…

2 hours ago

Norris labels McLaren long-run pace ‘shocking’ in chilly Vegas

Lando Norris didn’t hold back in his assessment of McLaren’s performance on the opening day…

3 hours ago

Hamilton delighted with ‘consistently strong day’ in Vegas

Lewis Hamilton was particularly happy with his opening day of running at the Las Vegas…

5 hours ago

Verstappen stuck with 'draggy' rear wing for Vegas

Red Bull fears that its prospects for this weekend's Las Vegas Grand Prix - which…

5 hours ago

Ferrari and Mercedes admit to plank changes based on FIA’s TD

Ferrari and Mercedes have both modified their car’s floor element in Las Vegas to comply…

6 hours ago