Honda introduces major power unit upgrade at Spa

McLaren will be boosted by a major power unit upgrade from Honda at this weekend's Belgian Grand Prix.

The race at the iconic Spa-Francorchamps circuit places a high demand on power unit performance with long sections of full throttle required. Following the summer break, Honda has upgraded its power unit ahead of the race, with both Fernando Alonso and Jenson Button set to receive the new engine.

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The upgrade relates to the internal combustion engine (ICE), with Honda focusing on improving combustion efficiency by updating the combustion chamber. There are also improvements to the turbo and the compressor, which is a continuation of the work Honda did with a turbo upgrade in Canada.

The Montreal turbo upgrade actually impacted on power from the ICE, slightly reducing the output. The new turbo and compressor to be introduced in Belgium addresses that deficit. With the developments focusing on three areas, Honda has spent seven tokens in total on the upgrade.

The upgrades result in both drivers using their fifth power unit components, with Honda saying it is unsure when it will take future penalties. Using a sixth power unit component carries a 10-place grid penalty.

Honda now has three power unit development tokens remaining for 2016, which it intends to use this season but may turn its full attention to its 2017 power unit before that time.

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Andrew Lewin

Andrew first became a fan of Formula 1 during the time when Michael Schumacher and Damon Hill were stepping into the limelight after the era of Alain Prost, Nigel Mansell and Aryton Senna. He's been addicted ever since, and has been writing about the sport now for nearly a quarter of a century for a number of online news sites. He's also written professionally about GP2 (now Formula 2), GP3, IndyCar, World Rally Championship, MotoGP and NASCAR. In his other professional life, Andrew is a freelance writer, social media consultant, web developer/programmer, and digital specialist in the fields of accessibility, usability, IA, online communities and public sector procurement. He worked for many years in magazine production at Bauer Media, and for over a decade he was part of the digital media team at the UK government's communications department. Born and raised in Essex, Andrew currently lives and works in south-west London.