05/01/2019
NEWS STORY
Honda believes it will benefit from the move which sees Toro Rosso share many of the rear end components from sister team Red Bull this season.
This year, for the first time since 2008, when it supplied its works team and the ill-fated Super Aguri, Honda is supplying engines to two teams, Red Bull and Toro Rosso.
Usually, though it uses the same gearbox internals as Red Bull, Toro Rosso has opted to provide its own casing. This year however, both will run the same rear end including suspension, a move which Honda believes will greatly aid the Japanese manufacturer.
"I think it's a big advantage," Toyoharu Tanabe tells Motorsport.com. "We don't need to communicate between one team and another team, or they ask us completely separately. We don't have that situation.
"Of course they have a slightly different design and we need to adapt to each team," he adds, "but it's not a big specification change.
"Theoretically we have double the data," he continued. "Not only trackside, but on the development side. We have a different team, a different car philosophy, a different way of working, especially trackside. We can get more information, more knowledge from a new team. That's a big benefit for us."