Honda makes Mercedes and Red Bull admission in new engine ‘target’
Honda expects an engine upgrade step, but not an answer to Mercedes or Red Bull
A heavily-upgraded Honda power unit is in the works. The Dutch Grand Prix has now been confirmed as its targeted date of arrival.
Shintaro Orihara, Honda’s trackside general manager and chief engineer, is hoping for a “reasonably big step” forward with this revised engine. However, he warned that the Zandvoort upgrade will not be enough to put a Mercedes or Red Bull-level power unit in the Aston Martin AMR26.
Honda not expecting to match Mercedes or Red Bull at Dutch GP
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After a challenging start to the alliance, both Aston Martin and Honda are working on substantial upgrade packages.
The B-spec Aston Martin AMR26 is due to hit the track at the Hungarian Grand Prix. The new Honda engine will be bolted in one race later, under current plans.
“Our target is Netherlands,” Orihara confirmed to PlanetF1.com and others.
“We are working hard to complete our job list to achieve bringing the new power to the Netherlands, that is our target.”
Asked if Honda’s engine changes are all internal, Orihara confirmed: “Yes, purely we focused on internal.
“Our focus point is to improve engine performance, so we are working on the combustion chamber shape, and also we modified the chamber. We will change the combustion chamber shape to improve combustion performance.
“Also, we are working to reduce friction by modifying the lubrication system.
“And also, of course, to improve reliability, because if we increase performance, we need to increase reliability.
“So still we have quite a big list to complete, but we are working hard.
“We will bring many updates to the Netherlands. Quite a big part we will modify.”
Orihara also confirmed a “working focus to improve driveability in this power unit.”
Honda, it was widely reported, will qualify for two upgrade opportunities, having been ranked at the back alongside Ferrari and Audi at the first ADUO [Additional Development and Upgrade Opportunities] checkpoint.
The system grades manufacturers solely based on the internal combustion engine.
Orihara was asked how much horsepower Honda looks to unlock with its engine upgrade.
“I know the number from the dyno, but I can’t describe,” he said. “We are aiming to get a reasonably big step, rather than bring a small step.”
He added: “After we got back the ADUO, we have additional dyno working hours.
“The first stage we did mono cylinder testing. Now we are checking our performance on the V6 dyno, also carrying over durability testing on the dyno.
“At the same time, we need to check our power behaviour in transient condition. So, let’s say, we also need to do transient time testing. For that type of activity, we are now doing exactly.”
Promising words, but Orihara looked to keep a lid on expectations.
Red Bull Powertrains-Ford, to the surprise of many including the PU manufacturer itself, was deemed to have the best ICE, followed by Mercedes.
Honda is not expecting its Zandvoort upgrade to put its PU on a par with either manufacturer.
“But what I would say is there is no magic in Formula 1,” Orihara continued, “so I don’t think we’re going to catch up with, let’s say, Mercedes or RBPT [Red Bull Powertrains] by one step.
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“The performance development is step by step, so Netherlands is a first step, to do a reasonable step, but we need another further step for the future.”
Aston Martin-Honda sit P10 in the Constructors’ standings. Fernando Alonso scored the first, and so far only point of this alliance with P10 in Monaco.
Additional reporting by Thomas Maher
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