Toro Rosso driver Pierre Gasly will ditch the Honda Spec-3 power unit at this weekend’s Mexican Grand Prix, as the team are wary of the latest version of their engine and thus reverted to the Spec-2 which will cost the Frenchman a 15-place grid drop for Sunday’s race.
Honda’s F1 technical chief Toyoharu Tanabe explained, “Gasly is starting FP1 with a new latest spec PU. The reason for this is that we have a concern regarding the assembly of the one used in Austin.”
“That power unit has been sent to Sakura for a full inspection and, at the moment, we are not sure if we can use it again this year. Therefore, by fitting a new one here, we add one to the pool of available units for the rest of this season.
“The reason for reverting to the earlier pre-Russia spec [after FP1] is that we have a better understanding of this version of the power unit and are more confident in our ability to set it up correctly for the specific conditions here in Mexico City,” added Tanabe.
Tanabe-san talks us through the PU plan this weekend 🗣️
“Gasly is starting FP1 with a new latest spec PU. The reason for this is that we have a concern regarding the assembly of the one used in Austin.”
He continues below… pic.twitter.com/gcsoXUduy4
— Honda Racing F1 (@HondaRacingF1) October 26, 2018