In its second year with Toro Rosso, Honda began supplying power units to Red Bull as well. Although two teams / four cars with the same power unit meant more work for Honda, there was also a big advantage for both teams and Honda. In only its second year with Honda, Toro Rosso introduced a chassis specifically designed for the Honda power unit, and with the help of Red Bull Technologies, the car was highly refined. The season started with a good momentum.

After the major change to wide bodies in 2017, more major regulation changes came in 2019, which were mainly related to aerodynamics. The maximum width of the front wing was increased from 1,800 mm to 2,000 mm, the same as the maximum width of the car body. Cascading front wings were banned, and the wingtip plates needed to be simplified. In addition, the maximum height of the bargeboard was lowered by 125 mm, the maximum width of the rear wing was widened by 100 mm while increasing the height by 70 mm. These changes were intended to make overtaking easier. The minimum weight was also increased by 10 kg to 743 kg, which was good news for teams struggling to reduce weight to meet the HALO requirements.

For Toro Rosso, using the same power unit as Red Bull was a big advantage. For Red Bull, the data from Toro Rosso, which was using the Honda power unit a year earlier, was useful. In addition, in the hastily decided first year, the car could not be fully adapted to the Honda power unit, but in the second, a car could be designed especially for the power unit. Taking advantage of synergies and partnerships, Red Bull Technologies supplied the gearboxes and front and rear suspension, allowing the Toro Rosso team to focus on aerodynamic design, which was the main focus of the STR14’s development, after the regulations had changed. The front wing, which was simplified as a result of the regulation changes, adopted a tapered shape that was lower at the wingtip plates. Toro Rosso also conducted its own aerodynamics development for the bargeboard and rear wing, and the result was a car that stood out from the Red Bull cars.

Honda announced that it would supply the same power units to all four cars, even though they would be supplying two teams, and provided equal support for all four drivers. Although there was a slight difference in timing for the updates, this approach was maintained throughout the season, with no complaints from teams or drivers, and Honda’s sincerity had been praised.

The RA619H was designed to increase power by inheriting the high-speed combustion that Honda had adopted from the previous year’s RA618H Spec 3 when it joined forces with Red Bull, and to take advantage of this power, the endurance reliability of the car was thoroughly improved. The Spec 3 version, aiming to further improenhanceve performance, was introduced in both Red Bull cars from Round 8, France, but Toro Rosso used the engine in only in Daniil Kvyat’s car. Both Toro Rosso cars started using Spec 3 engines from Round 9, Austria. This upgrade led to improved team results.

In the 2019 season, Toro Rosso hired Alexander Albon to replace Pierre Gasly, who was promoted to Red Bull. The new driver and new car did not match up smoothly in some areas, and race results were poor. The highlight of the first half of the season was in Round 11, Germany, where rain caused chaos, and Kvyat finished 3rd on the podium from 14th on the grid. While many drivers were at the mercy of the weather, Kvyat demonstrated his mastery of the wet by changing tires at precisely the right time.

In the latter half of the season, a trade between Albon and Gasly was finalized, and Gasly returned to Toro Rosso. Although the team had been consistently finishing in the points, top positions were still elusive. The biggest highlight of the season came in Round 20 Brazil. In the hazardous final stages of the race with safety car intervention, Gasly, in a fierce battle for position, moved up from 6th on the grid to 2nd due to an accident further up the field. On the final lap, he narrowly held off Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton to defend 2nd place, giving Honda-powered cars a 1-2 finish. This victory, out-powering Mercedes on the final uphill straight, was both inspiring and a confidence booster for Honda.