Honda and the engine of 2027: “We have a roadmap and we will take another big step from the beginning”

He F1 Italian GP demonstrated what was already expected, that Honda is still very far away in terms of power compared to the rest of the motorcyclists, something that greatly affected the driving times. Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll for pure top speed on a circuit full of straights.

Therefore, in the press conference after the race on Sunday in Monza, MD asked his track manager, Shintaro Orihara, if to solve this large speed deficit it is necessary to create a completely new engine for 20276 and scrap the current one.

“We have a roadmap to develop the engine and we know where we are right now. BBuilding on that roadmap, we will take another big step ahead of the first race.”answered the Japanese engineer. And he continued.

“It’s hard to say if we’ll be able to make up the entire gap for the first race, but we’re still working to reduce that gap for the first race. But, as I’ve already mentioned, “This year we will not have any major (engine) updates.”added Orihara, who together with Mike Krack, Aston Martin track manager, highlighted the improvement in drivability of the engine at Monza after the solutions found at Sakura in the previous weeks have worked.

“As I mentioned before this event, the key point for us was to confirm how our countermeasure worked on the track. We had tested it on the test bench and saw positive behavior. Then we take that countermeasure to the track. “We received positive feedback from the pilots and also saw positives in our data.”said.

“It’s a positive step for us before going to Madrid, where drivability is quite important. So I think we’ve found a good direction. That’s a positive aspect for us,” he said.

At his side, Mike Krack, highlighted the importance of this aspect for Madrid and presented it as a “positive point” within the general negative image of the weekend.

“Can you still find performance simply by optimizing?” Krack was asked.

“I think so,” he said at the beginning of his response. “I think Orihara has also mentioned drivability, which has always been a concern, I think, since the beginning of the year. I think we have made progress. Obviously, it is difficult for you to see it. Maybe it has been a little hidden by the characteristics of this circuit. But, as he has already mentioned, facing Madrid I am very happy that we have taken a small step in that sense, so that the car is more predictable and they can get a little closer to the limit,” he said.

“If the car is consistent, the driver can get closer to the limit. If the car is not consistent, the driver needs to leave a margin. So, from his point of view, it has been a positive step. It is something that we take away from here, where the general image is not very positive. But I think there are some positive aspects that we can take from this weekend,” he reflected.

Madrid, a better track for Aston Martin

“Will it go better in Madrid? Yes, I think that from the simulation point of view we should be in a better situation than here,” Krack responded one week before the race at the Madring, the Spanish F1 GP.

“And I think Fernando also mentioned it before: there are some circuits left on the calendar that will be better for us and others that will be worse for us. We knew it was going to be difficult. We hope to be in a better situation next week. Now, where exactly we will end up is always difficult to say, because we don’t know the circuit either. We only have the data from the simulator,” he said.

“But I think it will be a challenge. I see the smile on your face. We are looking forward to it too”he explained.

Tire degradation in Madrid can be high, and after the great tire management of the Aston Martin in Zandvoort, where Alonso came back from the 18th to 9thKrack was positive.

“I think, as I said, it will be interesting. It’s not always the degradation of the tires that makes the difference in the end. But if we have a good degradation, we will take advantage of it. It is a better way to start than having a very high degradation compared to our rivals,” he explained.

Other circuits; best and worst

Fernando Alonso pointed out Baku and vegas as two of the other circuits left on the calendar where the car will suffer a lot like in Monza due to a pure lack of engine power.

“Yes, you have chosen the right candidates. These two will not be easy. We know that. But that does not mean we give up. We will try to do our best. In Baku, although on paper it is not so favorable for us, there are always many incidents. So anything can happen at any time. And in Las Vegas, last year it was very cold and rainy. “We are never going to give up,” he said.

On the other hand, Alonso referred to Singapiur as the route that can best adapt to the renewed chassis of Adrian Newey’s Aston Martin.

“I don’t want to point out specific circuits. And Singapore, obviously, is a sprint, which will make it even more complicated because you don’t have time to get everything working correctly. Normally, on this type of circuit, the track accumulates rubber and the drivers get used to it. You have to get closer and closer to the wall and you may get too close from the beginning. Although, in theory, it seems like a better circuit for us, that doesn’t mean it’s going to be a walk in the park,” he added.

“So I think we have to stay very attentive, prepare professionally on all fronts and then execute everything at 100% to see what we achieve. I think that in Zandvoort we did not expect to score points. We expected to be in a reasonably good situation. But in races anything can always happen,” he concluded.

Problems and abandonments

Krack and Orihara also referred to the problems the cars had during the weekend.

Firstly, Orihara explained the setback of Alonso’s power unit in qualifying: “At quali we found an anomalous signal in our data. It seemed to indicate that something out of the ordinary was happening in our ERS circuit. So we check the data and also carefully inspect the components. As a precaution, we recalled some units and some of the parts were sent back to Sakura for inspection. At this point we know what happened and we are investigating what the root cause was. The components remaining at HRC are in good condition and we will continue inspections.”

Then, Mike Krack talked about the abandonments of Alonso and Stroll in the race.

“In Alonso’s case, he left the line and, due to the curbs and stones, there was some damage to the bottom of the car. In the case of Lance, we had a loss of hydraulic pressure. We lost hydraulic fluid and we couldn’t even get it back, so we had to stop the car on the track,” Krack said.

“That’s from Aston, not Honda,” the journalist said.

“There is no part Aston and part Honda. It was a hydraulic failure and we have to get to the bottom of the problem”he clarified, making it very clear that it is not about one or the other, but about a team.