Honda’s second ADUO upgrade, deployed at the Spanish Grand Prix, focused on the turbocharger to mitigate lag and boost power.
Staggered Rollout of ADUO Upgrades
At the Dutch sprint in Zandvoort, the team slipped in the first ADUO, dubbed Spec 2 PU. The modification suffered from drivability issues, prompting a swift heritage‑centric tweak before the next race.
During the Spanish event, that tweak evolved into a more robust turbocharger change for Lance Stroll’s car. FIA records show Stroll’s vehicle carried its fifth turbocharger of the season—a clear sign Honda pushed the hardware beyond earlier limits.
Power Unit Gap and Honda’s Dual Token Usage
Honda Ice measured over 4 % behind the Red Bull‑Ford power unit, the season’s top‑output engine. Granted two ADUO tokens, the team had announced earlier it would deploy only one. The president of Honda Racing, Koji Watanabe, revealed the motorsport media why the second upgrade was applied.
“We introduced the first ADUO in the Netherlands, then applied an improved turbo in Spain,” Watanabe said. “These were separated steps, yet both aimed at the same objective: reduce turbo lag.”
Context of Aspiring Competitiveness
Honda has historically been under‑used while supplying Red Bull: performance modifications were prohibited, so the manufacturer relied on simulation to gradually raise operational limits—an approach described as “reliability development.”
Red Bull’s own 2024 sidepods featured a smaller profile, yet the era’s competitive edge came from fine‑tuning the engine’s operating envelope, a philosophy Honda acknowledges remains unfulfilled.
Future Checklist and Competitive Outlook
With the season’s upgrade window now closed, Honda intends to invest where hardware cannot be altered. Watanabe highlighted that work will target non‑mechanical developments and skip the hardware route for the rest of the campaign.
“We still have unclaimed performance within the unit’s current limits,” he noted. “Our focus is on extracting that measure while we prepare for future series of upgrades.”
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