── While Albon was chasing Charles Leclerc (Ferrari), he wirelessly complained that he wanted more power. How did Honda respond to that?
Tanabe TD: I switched to power mode. Not only at this time but this time, while watching the race situation, I tried to use the power unit (PU) relatively pushily. It means that the PU side will contribute as much as possible to increase the relative fighting power. That was done not only for Albon, but for all four. That's how I used it as needed during the race.
──I saw white smoke rising from the machine of Pierre Guthrie (Alpha Tauri Honda), but was there any damage on the PU side?
Tanabe: It looked pretty bad (laughs), but the data shows no damage to the PU. Just in case, I'll check it from now on.
── We started on wet roads, and that situation continued in the early stages. Wasn't there any problem with the engine setting on a wet road surface?
Tanabe TD: Sure, I couldn't run on a wet road this weekend, but I was able to understand what kind of behavior it might have by analyzing limited data. Based on that, we have taken measures for setting. As a result, there were no negative comments from the driver.
──I have the impression that the power unit is different from Mercedes. How do you plan to catch up with you in the future? Development is frozen this season. Is there any way to catch up?
Tanabe:
I think that improving the usage will be the main area of improvement. Silverstone for the next race will have a completely different setting than this time, but I will do my best with a sharp usage.
── It is expected that one race will use 8 races this season. The latest specification, Spec 1.1, aims to further improve durability and widen the range that can be used in the race, but does this race make good use of it?
Tanabe TD: That's right. It goes without saying that we will fight within the range of durability confirmed by the bench test, but the absolute value of durability has definitely risen due to spec 1.1. That means that you contributed this time.
── On the other hand, did you mean that you had a little bit of restraint in the opening two races?
Tanabe TD:
Not really. After all, the total amount of savings is fixed. It's about changing the way we think about how to use it and when it will be used up.
──Are you proactively borrowing money?
Tanabe TD: It's not an advance loan. What is the best way to use the PU to improve the current situation? As a result, it means that you pushed this time.
── Was that how you used it, such as the last five laps that were chased by Bottas?
Tanabe TD:
Yes, that's right.
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