General
Honda comes with engine update for Red Bull and AlphaTauri
- GPblog.com
Max Verstappen and Alexander Albon will have an improved aerodynamic package as well as a new engine in Austria. An engine with more power. The same goes for the AlphaTauri team. Honda was able to continue working on the development of the engine at the beginning of the pandemic while other teams didn't have that possibility.
Honda later closed their factory during the corona crisis, which allowed them to continue developing the engine. Because there were differences between Europe and Asia in the rules on combating the pandemic and the closure of factories, they were allowed to continue working for Honda. The Japanese conveniently postponed the closure period to later this year. It tends to be an unsporting advantage because the teams in Europe did not have this possibility, but it is according to the book and the Sporting Regulations.
Since most of the power sources are going to be frozen for the rest of the year, this can be a crucial advantage for the teams that drive a Honda engine. According to the official channels of Formula 1 there are improvements in engine power and reliability.
Whether the other teams can do something about this and agree is not clear. It seems that they can't do anything about it because the new spec is already being taken to Austria and it has gone according to the rules.