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Honda says that it wants to start the 2019 Formula 1 season with the third best power unit in the field. Since rejoining the grid in 2015, it has struggled against its rivals in terms of both speed and reliability.
However, it made gains in 2018 working with Toro Rosso ahead of the switch to Red Bull in 2019. And as it prepares for the season with the energy drink squad, Honda wants to begin the campaign ahead of Renault, who Red Bull ditched at the end of last year.
Aston Martin outlines early hopes for Honda partnership
"We will make a big effort during the winter, and [up until] now of course,” Honda motorsport boss Masashi Yamamoto told Autosport. “At least we would like to start from third within the manufacturers, then try to catch the frontrunners up during the season.”
Speaking about closing in on Mercedes and Ferrari, who hold an advantage over the rest of the competitors, Yamamoto knows there is a lot of work to do - but insists the Japanese manufacturer is heading in the right direction.
"We are not really keen to say a specific time, but Mercedes and Ferrari have loads of knowledge of the grey areas [of the rules], so they are still ahead of us,” he stated.
“But after four years of our development and trying, we think we are now finding the right direction and where to go – much clearer than last year, or two years ago. So we think we can speed up our development.”
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C. Sainz jr
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boudy
Posts: 1,168
I am hoping that both Honda and Renault have made significant steps and both get close to Mercedes, However my guess is that Honda will have made the most gains.
McLaren doesn't need to find an loophole they need to improve their chassis. I bet that they are going to copy either Ferrari or Merc... [Read more]