Honda 2019 engine showing problems: "Vibrations at high velocity"

Red Bull Racing's new engine partner Honda have reportedly parted ways with AVL, the world's largest independent company for the development, simulation and testing of drive systems, as the Japanese power unit started having severe vibrations at high speeds, Auto Bild Motorsport reports.

Red Bull made the bold move of leaving Renault as an engine partner for Honda. The Japanese certainly have the potential to propel the Bulls to great heights, but reliability issues have often been a problem at the same time. The partnership with McLaren from 2015 up until the end of 2017 was disastrous, and while a lot of progress was made with Toro Rosso in 2018, mechanical issues still reared their ugly head at times.

Helmut Marko told Auto Bild that there are still vibrations in the engines sometimes that need to be sorted, vibrations that even hired expert Mario Illien (formerly in charge of Mercedes engines in F1) couldn't get rid of. This means that even though the engine has more power than Renault's, it can't retrieve all of that power right now. Still, Marko remains confident it will get resolved.

"To find a solution, the right precautions have been taken already," the 75-year-old explained.

"2019 will be a better year for us."