Honda finding it harder to uncover big gains

  • Published on 17 Dec 2019 08:13
  • comments 2
  • By: Fergal Walsh

Honda's technical director Toyoharu Tanabe admits that finding big gains on its power unit is becoming harder to do.

In 2019, the Japanese manufacturer scored ten podium finishes between Red Bull and Toro Rosso, including three victories, which all came at the hands of Max Verstappen.

It was the first year that Honda was in partnership with the senior Red Bull team, having originally supplied Toro Rosso in 2018 following a difficult three-year pairing with McLaren.

Honda has made steps to close in on the other engine manufacturers but admits that it is now struggling to make the large strides that it has done in recent years. 

“We could show our improvement, our good positive progress this year, not only with Red Bull but also Toro Rosso,” Tanabe said to RACER.

“It was very nice for all the people working for this project and people in Honda. So I want to keep this momentum for next year. The development for next year has already started. And then we need to push more to achieve our goal.

“I think it’s harder than previous years. We need to be precise in every single area, in terms of hardware, also software and then trackside management as well.

"So, we keep pushing. The PU means the ICE, MGU-H and K, and all the systems, water and oil. Also tools, software, we have a lot of things to do. But a big step? Maybe that’s getting difficult.”

However, Tanabe highlighted that Honda is pleased with the progress it has made with the reliability of the power unit. 

“We achieved no Sunday race failure to stop the car,” he said. “It was good for us. But we still have an area to improve. Also, we had some issues in practice. So we need to clean up everything from the race weekend.”

Replies (2)

Login to reply
  • denis1304

    Posts: 284

    Just made them reliable...

    • + 0
    • Dec 17 2019 - 11:27
  • That is to be expected, however I fully trust them to squeeze a thing or two out of the PU for the coming season. There is no doubt work to be done on the package, but there were quite a few positives to pick from this season. Honda is keeping up the upgrade pace, and the power output on higher altitude tracks are my notables, along with mode 11 (which btw is my new slang for when I'm hurrying up at work!).

    • + 0
    • Dec 17 2019 - 20:22

BE Grand Prix of Belgium

Local time 

BE Grand Prix of Belgium

Local time 

World Championship standings 2023

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 - 2023

Date
Grand Prix
Circuit
-
Bahrain
3 - Mar 5
Bahrain
17 - Mar 19
Saudi Arabia
31 - Apr 2
Australia
28 - Apr 30
Azerbaijan
5 - May 7
United States of America
19 - May 21
Italy
26 - May 28
Monaco
2 - Jun 4
Spain
16 - Jun 18
Canada
30 - Jul 2
Austria
7 - Jul 9
United Kingdom
21 - Jul 23
Hungary
28 - Jul 30
Belgium
25 - Aug 27
Netherlands
1 - Sep 3
Italy
15 - Sep 17
Singapore
22 - Sep 24
Japan
20 - Oct 22
United States of America
27 - Oct 29
Mexico
3 - Nov 5
Brazil
17 - Nov 19
United States of America
24 - Nov 26
United Arab Emirates
See full schedule

Formula 1 Calendar - 2023

Date
Grand Prix & Circuit
3 - Mar 5
17 - Mar 19
Saudi Arabia Jeddah Street Circuit
31 - Apr 2
Australia Albert Park
28 - Apr 30
Azerbaijan Baku City Circuit
5 - May 7
United States of America Miami International Autodrome
19 - May 21
26 - May 28
Monaco Monte Carlo
2 - Jun 4
16 - Jun 18
30 - Jul 2
Austria Red Bull Ring
7 - Jul 9
United Kingdom Silverstone
21 - Jul 23
Hungary Hungaroring
28 - Jul 30
25 - Aug 27
Netherlands Circuit Zandvoort
1 - Sep 3
Italy Monza
15 - Sep 17
22 - Sep 24
20 - Oct 22
United States of America Circuit of the Americas
27 - Oct 29
3 - Nov 5
Brazil Interlagos
17 - Nov 19
United States of America Las Vegas Street Circuit
24 - Nov 26
United Arab Emirates Yas Marina Circuit
See full schedule

Team profile

  • comments 128,108 comments on Honda
  • star 10 members have this team as their favourite
  • vote Tweets about Honda
Show full profile
show sidebar