McLaren: "New Honda upgrades better than expected"

  • Published on 14 Oct 2015 08:37
  • comments 0
  • By: Calle Nilsson

McLaren claims the new upgrades Honda introduced for their power unit in Russia turned out to be better than McLaren had expected. The japanese engine supplier spent their final two tokens of this season to introduce this new package in Russia. While its unknown exactly what areas of the engine Honda upgraded, it is speculated that new turbo and MGU-H was introduced with the package. The goal with the upgrades was supposed to be improved reliability and minor power upgrades.

McLaren elected to only have one driver, Fernando Alonso, take the package, in order to have one driver free from penalties and one with the new unit. After the first but short testrun of the unit friday last week, during the free practice session, Alonso completed 16 laps with the new unit and were positive about the changes made afterwards.

“In FP1 we did enough laps to calibrate the engine, to see whether everything was working and it seems that everything is working as expected, so this is good news.”

Racing director Eric Boullier told autosport that the unit worked as planned, and has improved.

"It actually beat all the expectations on the data, the dyno measures. It worked as per plan, and has improved. So we introduced this engine here because we know it's a track layout that doesn't suit our package, and then run it from the race in the USA."

Honda chief Yasuhisa Arai claims he is pleased with the engine, but realise that more still needs to be done with it.

"At this circuit, on the engine itself, there has been a scheduled improvement, but total horsepower, with deployment, is still weak."

Alonso will run the unit free from penalties in Austin, Texas, in the next race. Alonso's team mate, Jenson Button, will have to wait for Mexico for his new unit.

Replies (0)

Login to reply

BE Grand Prix of Belgium

Local time 

BEGrand Prix of Belgium

Local time 

World Championship standings 2024

Show full world champion standings

Test calendar

See full test schedule

Related news

Give your opinion!

Will Bottas challenge Hamilton for the world championship in 2020?

Formula 1 Calendar - 2024

Date
Grand Prix
Circuit
-
Bahrain
29 - Mar 2
Bahrain
7 - Mar 9
Saudi Arabia
22 - Mar 24
Australia
5 - Apr 7
Japan
19 - Apr 21
China
3 - May 5
United States of America
17 - May 19
Italy
24 - May 26
Monaco
7 - Jun 9
Canada
21 - Jun 23
Spain
28 - Jun 30
Austria
5 - Jul 7
United Kingdom
19 - Jul 21
Hungary
26 - Jul 28
Belgium
23 - Aug 25
Netherlands
30 - Sep 1
Italy
13 - Sep 15
Azerbaijan
20 - Sep 22
Singapore
18 - Oct 20
United States of America
25 - Oct 27
Mexico
1 - Nov 3
Brazil
22 - Nov 24
United States of America
29 - Dec 1
Qatar
6 - Dec 8
United Arab Emirates
See full schedule

Formula 1 Calendar - 2024

Date
Grand Prix & Circuit
29 - Mar 2
7 - Mar 9
Saudi Arabia Jeddah Street Circuit
22 - Mar 24
Australia Albert Park
5 - Apr 7
19 - Apr 21
3 - May 5
United States of America Miami International Autodrome
17 - May 19
24 - May 26
Monaco Monte Carlo
7 - Jun 9
21 - Jun 23
28 - Jun 30
Austria Red Bull Ring
5 - Jul 7
United Kingdom Silverstone
19 - Jul 21
Hungary Hungaroring
26 - Jul 28
23 - Aug 25
Netherlands Circuit Zandvoort
30 - Sep 1
Italy Monza
13 - Sep 15
Azerbaijan Baku City Circuit
20 - Sep 22
18 - Oct 20
United States of America Circuit of the Americas
25 - Oct 27
1 - Nov 3
Brazil Interlagos
22 - Nov 24
United States of America Las Vegas Street Circuit
29 - Dec 1
6 - Dec 8
United Arab Emirates Yas Marina Circuit
See full schedule

Driver profile

  • Team Aston Martin
  • Points 518
  • Podiums 9
  • Grand Prix 147
  • Country ES
  • Date of b. Jul 29 1981 (42)
  • Place of b. Oviedo, ES
  • Weight 68 kg
  • Length 1.71 m
Show full profile

Team profile

Show full profile
show sidebar