The thermal engine, object of Honda's attention

The return of the duo McLaren - Honda is certainly not at the level of expectations, whether in the British or Japanese clan. If performance follows an upward curve compared to 2015, the Japanese V6 turbo/hybrid Power Unit is still far from reaching the level of that developed by Mercedes or even Ferrari.

A deficit recognized by Honda which is working on certain specific areas in order to catch up. « From an internal combustion point of view, we still need to improve the performance of the engine and we are starting the very difficult work of improving the engine for next year, underlines Yusuke Hasegawa, head of the division F1 from the Japanese manufacturer. It won't be completely redesigned, but there are a lot of areas that need to be rethought. »

2017 focuses all the attention at McLaren-Honda, but new features will still be brought this year, Honda still retaining 12 development tokens. “We hope to be able to introduce some improvements over the next few races. I already confirmed, we see some good elements, so as soon as we are ready we will bring them, Hasegawa continued.

Regarding the turbo, we have introduced a new part in Canada. Of course, we are never satisfied with performance, there is always room for improvement. Regarding the ERS system, we have limits in the regulations.

The maximum power is 120 Kw and the energy is limited, so from this point of view, I think we have reached a satisfactory level. Last year here, the power stopped being delivered halfway down the straight, which was a disaster. So, from that point of view, we are proud. »

The third free practice session for the Austrian Grand Prix will begin at 11 a.m., before qualifying scheduled from 14 p.m., which will be followed live with commentary on our website. Photos from the Austrian Grand Prix can be viewed in our dedicated gallery.