Alexander Albon is set to take a grid penalty at this weekend’s Austrian Grand Prix, with confirmation that he will use Honda’s Spec 3 power unit.
Honda has been ramping up the development of its power unit this season after linking up with Red Bull, which joined junior team Toro Rosso in partnering the Japanese marque.
After detecting a problem in China, Honda accelerated development of its Spec 2 engine, which was introduced in Azerbaijan, while its Spec 3 unit was brought to France.
But while the Red Bull drivers and Albon’s Toro Rosso team-mate Daniil Kvyat took on Spec 3, Albon remained with Spec 2 for the duration of the French Grand Prix weekend.
Honda has now confirmed that Albon will join his stablemates in using the Spec 3 engine at the Red Bull Ring this weekend.
“Having given our Spec 3 PU its debut a few days ago without any issues in France, we have acquired plenty of data from it,” said Honda F1 chief Toyoharu Tanabe.
“This week all four of our drivers, including Alex, will have the latest specification PU which means he has to take grid penalties.
“Once again, very hot conditions are forecast for this weekend too, so we must keep that factor in mind during our preparation and refer to data we have acquired in France.”
