Sorry but that is incorrect, there was a bunch of development work done by a serious European engine company who act as a consultant to Honda on the ICE side.diffuser wrote: ↑20 Feb 2026, 18:01none of the people from R&D Honda Sukura left. How many got reassigned back to this project. I don't know. The old PU was 100% designed in Japan.
This comes up from time to time. I don't think I've ever seen anything reliable(ish) stating this, just the odd post on forums - last time around I think Mario Ilien was mentioned. It does often seem that when things go wrong, it's Honda, when they go well, it's Ilien/Cosworth/Cowell/someone! Even if true, we wouldn't know if it's specific to a specific issue or more wide-ranging. Anyway, which company, and can you give an indication of why you believe this? Genuinely interested.
Apologies, it was the oil tank. But the principle stands.Otromundo wrote: ↑20 Feb 2026, 18:08Mmmmm ...emp wrote: ↑12 Feb 2026, 20:45I am willing to make a bet that the engine will be *that* bad this year. If they have so many small problems, you can't tell anyone that the engine will be good next month when this month is extremely underwhelming.Ashwinv16 wrote: ↑12 Feb 2026, 20:39Just a reminder this isn't the engine Honda will be racing with. They still haven't homologated their engines and the final engine and battery spec will only be fitted in Melbourne. There will be reliability issues but Honda is calming by then the engine will be 90% reliable. So lets see.
Development doesn't happen over night in F1 and no sane manufacturer goes to limited testing with their lesser spec engine because track testing is invaluable. Ask Honda and their oil pump.
Source: https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/honda ... 0/4998890/Honda had particular trouble with its oil tank design and severe vibrations through the transmission in pre-season testing, which compromised its start to the 2017 championship.
In an interview published on Honda's F1 website, the firm's F1 engine chief Yusuke Hasegawa suggested the extra loads produced by this season's faster cars had caught Honda out.
"Many items we could not test on the dyno, so it is normal that we need to check some functions in the car," he said.
"The oil tank is one of the biggest items - we have a rig for the oil tank but we cannot recreate the same types of g-forces and conditions as in the car.
"Of course, by design we have to consider the actual car situation in theory, but sometimes it is not always the same situation, so that is why we had some issues with the oil tank.
Very interesting, thank you for the information. When I highlighted it in my reply, it wasn't meant as criticism. It caught my attention because it's directly related. But since it seems so basic, it's often overlooked.emp wrote: ↑20 Feb 2026, 18:35Apologies, it was the oil tank. But the principle stands.Otromundo wrote: ↑20 Feb 2026, 18:08Mmmmm ...emp wrote: ↑12 Feb 2026, 20:45
I am willing to make a bet that the engine will be *that* bad this year. If they have so many small problems, you can't tell anyone that the engine will be good next month when this month is extremely underwhelming.
Development doesn't happen over night in F1 and no sane manufacturer goes to limited testing with their lesser spec engine because track testing is invaluable. Ask Honda and their oil pump.
Source: https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/honda ... 0/4998890/Honda had particular trouble with its oil tank design and severe vibrations through the transmission in pre-season testing, which compromised its start to the 2017 championship.
In an interview published on Honda's F1 website, the firm's F1 engine chief Yusuke Hasegawa suggested the extra loads produced by this season's faster cars had caught Honda out.
"Many items we could not test on the dyno, so it is normal that we need to check some functions in the car," he said.
"The oil tank is one of the biggest items - we have a rig for the oil tank but we cannot recreate the same types of g-forces and conditions as in the car.
"Of course, by design we have to consider the actual car situation in theory, but sometimes it is not always the same situation, so that is why we had some issues with the oil tank.
For the newcomers.
it seems like i remember in the past that honda liked to constantly rotate new engineers into their f1 programs and only leave the management mostly unchanged. f1 was like a bonus project for younger designers that were showing promise in other areas. no idea if thats still how its working. i could see how that could be a big problem though. surely they have the right people staying where they are needed at this point in the projectdiffuser wrote: ↑20 Feb 2026, 18:01none of the people from R&D Honda Sukura left. How many got reassigned back to this project. I don't know. The old PU was 100% designed in Japan.
yeah all these guys acting like its a contest between aston and honda for who screwed up less need a reality check. the last thing they want to do is turn it into some us vs them game. not aston not alonso, or whoever. they just need to know whats wrong, and work through their problems as fast as possible to make sure the whole year isnt a complete joke.
It really is looking like one of the dumbest decisions any F1 team has made in a long time.Artur Craft wrote: ↑20 Feb 2026, 19:32Does anybody knows the reason AM ditched Mercedes as their engine ? I cannot fathom how anyone would swap Mercedes for Honda
Clearly, Honda will be able to introduce multiple new specs before 2027 thanks to the ADUO system. They seem very far behind at the moment, though.zoroastar wrote: ↑20 Feb 2026, 19:57yeah all these guys acting like its a contest between aston and honda for who screwed up less need a reality check. the last thing they want to do is turn it into some us vs them game. not aston not alonso, or whoever. they just need to know whats wrong, and work through their problems as fast as possible to make sure the whole year isnt a complete joke.
