Honda - another disaster ?

[MartG]

Honda say their new engine concept is 'high risk' - sounds like they are preparing the ground for another dismal year

http://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/honda-admits-new...

I'd love to see them do well though

[MartG]

Looks a bit radical !

[MartG]

Not a good start

https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/mclaren-delayed...

[MartG]

Frimley111R said:

Fundamentally they have made a big mistake with Honda. Yes Honda were outstanding 20 years ago but this time it is starting from scratch. 20 years ago they were already making great race engines. This time they were not.

I think a certain Mr Rossi may disagree

[MartG]

DanielSan said:

MartG said:

I think a certain Mr Rossi may disagree

Don't Honda supply the whole series though? Sole supply hardly breeds competition.

Nope - they are in competition with Chevrolet

[MartG]

Alonso must be so pissed off right now

[MartG]

budgie smuggler said:

I don't understand how they keep having installation niggles. 2015, 2016 and 2017. FFS. Do they not run these things on a shaker rig or whatever to find these issues before first test?

The laps they've missed out on will cost them in terms of understanding the car setup, aero etc all season.

I guess they'd need to strap them to a centrifuge to mimic the G force they get when cornering - I don't think anyone does this though

[MartG]

stevesuk said:

If Alonso arrived on the driver market simply looking for the best opportunity (performance wise) available, and not necessarily for the most $$$, I suspect some effort would be made to make room for him.

Massa could re-retire

[MartG]

SG167 said:

That said, whilst its difficult to tell about the chassis - if Honda did, by some miracle, create an engine that kept up with the Mercedes, would the chassis be good enough.

From what Alonso has been saying a lot of the apparent chassis issues stem from the poor driveability of the engine - difficult to control when the throttle acts like an on/off switch

[MartG]

Well it looks like Honda's Indycar division hasn't had a problem improving their product - pole position and the win at St Petersburg today

[MartG]

[MartG]

s3fella said:

Check out the McLaren Honda official racewear in Ebay Daily deals today! light jackets for a tenner.....?

Last years colour scheme, so not related to the current issues

[MartG]

jsf said:

No chance.

VW group are skint after the emissions scandal and won't be throwing hundreds of millions of Euro at an engine/powertrain that looks likely to be scrapped when the next cycle happens to the regulations.

That's the point though - they'd be looking to enter after the regs change so need to be aware as early as possible what the revised regs will be

[MartG]

Whoops - seems like they still have a very long way to go

https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/f1-honda-engine...

[MartG]

Crafty_ said:

McLaren won't have a winning car in 2 years either. Its all about the relationship - if it remains good he stays, if its got to the point it did at Ferrari he goes.

Doing other stuff has a bearing on that.

One sure way to keep him would be for McLaren Honda to start an LMP1 programme

[MartG]

thegreenhell said:

What are the chances of Honda being able to make an engine that can last for a whole 24 hours?

No problem - the issue being that it will only produce 150bhp

[MartG]

I wonder if McLaren have the technical capability to use the basic Honda engine but modified by themselves

[MartG]

More head-in-the-sand attitude from Honda, or will they finally manage to make some progress ?

https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/honda-responds-...

[MartG]

Mike Gascoyne reckons McLaren have already decided to split from Honda

http://www.skysports.com/f1/news/12433/10914414/f1...

[MartG]