2018 Scuderia Toro Rosso F1 Team - Honda

[Raleigh]

At the end of the day STR is a training ground and evaluation for drivers and engineers, results themselves are not the primary or even secondary goal.

So, how can we evaluate Honda performance?
We return to the starting point. Only Red Bull can know the performance of Honda.

Exactly.

I know many Honda fans hoped for a competitive STR that would showcase what Honda can do, maybe even race and beat McLaren but these are unproven drivers in a chassis whose quality is also unknown to us.

There is really no yardstick for fans about where Honda is, all we can look at is general reliability and perhaps see if Honda updates line up with changes in performance.

And like you say, Red Bull have all the data on both engines, they know where Honda is relative to Renault and STR’s position on track is not relevant to that decision.

[techman]

looks like a reliabitliy update. its good that they changed both as precaustion. the worse thing that could happen is car break down when points are there to be taken

[HPD]

The important thing here is that they managed to find the problem and find a solution.
The rest doesn't matter much

[etusch]

We just will watch second race there are comments whole season finished.
We will see 3 engine rule's affects even on mercedes engines

[Big Tea]

Being realistic, apart from the stick they will get for replacing another engine, there is little reason for them not to change it.

They started last and 16th in Oz so a grid penalty is not going to harm them much. Better to get things sorted for the best race car further up the grid and wait until the others start getting penalties later in the season.

Of course they want a bullet proof engine, but they do not have one so why pretend otherwise.

[ivanlesk]

Being realistic, apart from the stick they will get for replacing another engine, there is little reason for them not to change it.

They started last and 16th in Oz so a grid penalty is not going to harm them much. Better to get things sorted for the best race car further up the grid and wait until the others start getting penalties later in the season.

Of course they want a bullet proof engine, but they do not have one so why pretend otherwise.

If you change engine for second race in season I dont see how can you benefit from other's penalties later in season.

[Big Tea]

Being realistic, apart from the stick they will get for replacing another engine, there is little reason for them not to change it.

They started last and 16th in Oz so a grid penalty is not going to harm them much. Better to get things sorted for the best race car further up the grid and wait until the others start getting penalties later in the season.

Of course they want a bullet proof engine, but they do not have one so why pretend otherwise.

If you change engine for second race in season I dont see how can you benefit from other's penalties later in season.

If you are at the back, you are at the back with or without a fresh engine. Even one race less on it is an advantage, if it is replaced with a 'better' one with improved reliability it looks like a good swap for 2 or three places from the back of the grid.

[dren]

It gives Honda an extra weekend or two to finalize their performance update for the next PU, assuming they don't have any more PU failures from now to then.

[HPD]

look at that fat ass

[gshevlin]

Hmmm. That tells me that one or a combination of the following is true:
1. Toro Rosso left lots of clearance in the bodywork because Honda intends to modify or move powerplant ancillaries in the first major upgrade
2. Toro Rosso is leaving a margin on airflow inside the bodywork, this can be closed down as the powerplant cooling characteristics are optimized and stablized
3. Toro Rosso's aero department is not top-flight.

I vote for some combination of (1) and (2). Air going into the engine compartment is air that most of the time cannot be used to generate downforce.

[PhillipM]

It's (4) - the engine change was made late and a lot of packaging integration work is still to be done, the same as McLaren.

[godlameroso]

Not bad Gasley ahead of both Mclarens.

[etusch]

As I said earlier Gasly looks fast and he is a rookie. I hope he will get better and better. I wonder what he will do in race

[HPD]

I think Honda is pushing a little more than others. But let's hope we have a better weekend

[Ground Effect]

As I said earlier Gasly looks fast and he is a rookie. I hope he will get better and better. I wonder what he will do in race

I'm not sure, but I believe Gasly set him time on the soft tyre, which gives a lot of encouragement. I'm not one to rave about the speed trap, but still very impressive. As we know, it's the least representative session. Let's hope they can carry it through.