Honda does not answer the million-dollar question but has good news for Fernando Alonso: “We have reached our internal goal”

Fernando Alonso He has been warning all season that the second half of the season must be the good one for Aston Martin after the disastrous start in the first stages of the new F1 regulations. All hopes were pinned on the improvement package Adrian Newey which arrived first in Hungary and which will be completed in Zandvoort after the summer break.

That said, in order to be eligible to fight for points in the medium term, Aston Martin needs its engine to be competitive enough, something that has certainly not been the case in the first half of the campaign. For that same reason, Honda will present its new power unit at the Dutch Grand Prix. They have been working on it for many months after the initial fiasco. A substantial change in its performance is expected with the definitive goodbye to vibrations and greater power. But, the million dollar question is how many CVs they will earn.

“I can’t say the exact number but we have managed to achieve our internal goal and I have complete confidence in what we have achieved at the HRC factory in Sakura. “We are excited to bring the new engine to the Netherlands and there we will see where we really are,” he said. Shintaro Orihara, chief engineer of the Japanese, responding to fans in a Honda Racing video on their social networks.

“We have focused on improving the engine, more specifically on being more competitive when it comes to internal combustion. We can say that it is a secret, but I can reveal some details. HWe have changed the prechamber to accelerate combustion and we have also modified the shape of the piston to also achieve better combustion. Finally, we haves modified some lubrication systems to reduce friction.”

The relationship with Aston Martin was logically damaged after seeing that the first steps together had such a bad result. However, Orihara believes that these tough moments, such as the visit of Newey and the rest of the British team bosses to the factory before the start of the year, served to strengthen the bond.

“We have developed our relationship with Aston Martin not only on the track, but also from the perspective of the factories. The relationship was good at the beginning but we have also gone through tougher times. The relationship has been shaping throughout the season and now we are at a good point“, he expressed in conclusion.