Red Bull have been performing well in the last few races and some including Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton have suggested that the recently introduced Honda power unit came with significant upgrades which is why they have been so fast. Lewis Hamilton once again touched on this during the second race weekend in Austria while Honda’s F1 technical director Toyoharu Tanabe has offered his rebuttal Link to poll: https://www.youtube.com/post/UgzGed7so4mGkpBlz5J4AaABCQ 0:00 - Hamilton Suspicious Of Red Bull’s Pace Advantage 2:20 - Fast Feed I'm your host Dillon Shelley and first up on Formula World: Hamilton Suspicious Of Red Bull’s Pace Advantage Hamilton began by suggesting that Red Bull have something extra and even though Mercedes have made a small step forward, it won’t be enough “They definitely have something extra in their bag. I think we made some small progression. I think they still have the two-tenths lead, or maybe a tenth and a half. We made steps, but not enough to make up that two-tenths deficit” He also implied that Red Bull may have something akin to their qualifying mode from a couple of years ago “Over a single lap, it felt good. But Red Bull will be using extra engine power. They almost have a qualifying mode like we had a few years ago. I don't know where they get it from” He reiterated that Red Bull are too fast for them “I'm pretty sure it will stay the same. Whatever gap they have [in qualifying], they have that gap in the race. We're going to push and we're going to work on improving the car. Our race pace looked good, but I have to look at it a little bit more” Honda F1's Technical Director, Toyoharu Tanabe stated that their current power unit is of the same specification as the previous one “I am very happy if it is true. It is not true. According to the current regulations, a power update is not allowed during the season. As a result, our second power unit is the same as the first in terms of specification and performance” He then explained where the improved performance is coming from “The current performance improvement is the result of the hard work of Honda and the teams. We are only allowed to change for reasons of reliability, cost considerations and logistics. We must first submit very detailed changes to the FIA, and the FIA has approved those changes” He signed off by giving his reply to all the suspicion “The FIA distributes all the documents to the other PU manufacturers. So we need the approval of the other major manufacturers to change the specifications of a part. We are very careful about changing the performance. It is not possible to improve the performance during the season. That's my answer to that suspicion” Fast Feed Red Bull team principal Christian Horner feels that if they “can find a balance with a smaller wing it will only help [them] in the battle with Mercedes who [they] expect to be strong” He also added that “Honda are doing a great job. [They're] lucky to have that amount of support. They have pulled forward next year’s engine into this year” “They have worked hard in what will be their final year. It will be sad to see them leave the sport at the end of the year but [they've] still got six months where [they've] got to go for it” Alpine’s Fernando Alonso has stated that their test driver Guanyu Zhou “executed FP1 perfectly, slowly building the pace, and no stress with many things” “It was not an easy FP1 with traffic, with the [practice] start at the end, so there are a couple of exercises that you need to execute – like the start, the formation lap, etcetera – that he did manage very well” Guanyu Zhou, meanwhile, is “really thankful for this opportunity - the team believing in [him] stepping into Fernando’s car” He “had to take care of it, but [he] was also pushing as much as [he] could to show [his] full potential” Retired F1 driver turned analyst Paul di Resta feels that “Toto [Wolff] needs to keep morale as high as he can” “That motivation, the talks he does after every Grand Prix are important to keep everyone on their toes so they can strike back at Red Bull” Red Bull’s Sergio Perez has revealed that he is “not feeling fully comfortable with the car on the softer compound yet” Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko agreed that “Perez is still struggling a bit” Haas’ Mick Schumacher has said that “the title fight is very exciting for all of [them] to watch. And Max is doing very well” Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton has explained that they “always try to get something more out of it, but that usually only makes it worse. So, [he’s] only going to make minimal adjustments” His team principal Toto Wolff divulged that “there are not going to be big parts changes” “There is one more development that is going to come onto the car in Silverstone, but that has been up the sleeve for a long time” Do you see Guanyu Zhou as a future F1 driver?