Red Bull duo take fresh engines for F1 70th Anniversary GP

Red Bull drivers Max Verstappen and Alex Albon will take on new power units for Formula 1’s 70th Anniversary Grand Prix weekend at Silverstone.

Honda confirmed prior to the start of Friday practice that it would be introducing a new set of engine elements for both Red Bull cars for the second round to be held at Silverstone.

Verstappen has received a full change of power unit components, though Albon will not have new control electronics or energy store elements in his RB16. As all of the changes fall within the team’s allowance for 2020, neither driver will face a grid drop.

"As part of our PU strategy for the season, we are introducing new power units for the two Red Bull Racing drivers at this event," Honda said in a statement.

"This gives us greater flexibility in terms of power unit management. The new power units are the same specification as the ones coming out.”

Honda confirmed that the same changes have not been applied to the AlphaTauri cars driven by Pierre Gasly and Daniil Kvyat.

“For the time being, we are not making the change at Scuderia AlphaTauri,” the Japanese manufacturer continued.

“This is because Gasly has already used a second PU from Sunday in Hungary and with Kvyat, we want to evaluate his PU following his crash last weekend.”

Renault’s Daniel Ricciardo is also taking on a new internal combustion engine, MGU-H and turbocharger for this weekend’s 70th Anniversary Grand Prix.

Mercedes’ Valtteri Bottas, the two Racing Points of Nico Hulkenberg and Lance Stroll, and the Williams pair of George Russell and Nicholas Latifi are taking on new MGU-Ks as championship leader Lewis Hamilton did at the first Silverstone race.