Honda does not see the problem that Alonso had: “With the data we have here, the engine is fine, we did not find any fault”

Fernando Alonso warned repeatedly during the Baku race on Saturday of a problem in the Honda engine apart from the already known lack of power of said engine. He insisted on several turns and warned the team that he was going to abandon. However, shortly after, at the press conference he holds after each GP Shintaro OriharaHonda’s track manager, alongside Mike Krack (Aston Martin), the Japanese engineer said that, with the data they had on the circuit, they did not see anything strange in the engine.

“It’s not normal”said Alonso on the track, seeing how he surpassed him Perezlosing many tenths on the straight, and then, seeing how Bottas He surpassed him on several occasions in the long straight of the third sector, with enormous superiority.

“I think we have to withdraw. I’m sorry,” Fernando told his team, warning that he was going to take the car to the pits on lap 22. And before the written press, Fernando insisted.

“In the end we had to stop. We suspected there was a problem with the engine. We lack speed on the straight, but something unusual happened today (in the Japanese propellant) and we have to analyze it to see the reason,” he commented. And he continued: “I didn’t see any alarms. Everything was working fine, but I started to lose a lot on the straight, like 1.5. So it was kind of anomalous.”

Orihara does not find the problem on the track

But Honda’s Oriharasaid that, after reviewing all the data available on the track, he could not see the setback and assured that they will have to look for the failure with an exhaustive examination at their headquarters, with better tools.

“With the data we have now, which we have checked all of it, for now the engine is fine, we did not find any problem in the data. We will carefully review the maintenance work and also the data we receive from the factory, and they will also review it carefully“, he stated in words published by present media such as ‘AS’ or ‘Motorsport.com’.

“So for now we don’t have any problems, but we will analyze it carefully. We have to carefully check the engine power, also the power management and maybe the GPS,” Orihara added.

While, at his side, Mike Krack, Aston Martin track boss, pointed towards “the slipstream combined with overtaking mode” as a possible cause of what Fernando felt, according to ‘AS’. But everything remains pending an exhaustive analysis, yes, without time to lose, since this week the Malaysian race is held in Sepang.

Over there, Aston Martin hopes to perform better than in Bakusince Azerbaijan was one of the worst circuits for the green car along with Monza and Las Vegas due to the lack of power of its engine on the straight.

In Sepang there are also important straights, but at the same time, fast corners in which the chassis can be more important, and above all, the good degradation of the wheels in the race for a car that performs better on Sundays than on a lap. But nothing magical is expected from those in green on the track either.

“We put in a new engine. Then, in Free Practice 2, we found irregular signs in our oil system. Then, we decided not to remove it to protect it and did an inspection after the session. We found the cause and replaced the parts. And then, in Free Practice 3, qualifying and in the race, we have not seen any problem with the engine. So I think the new engine is in good shape“added Orihara when reviewing what happened over the weekend with an engine that suffered an oil leak in Free Practice 2.