General Honda F1 Topic

[Slo Poke]

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https://honda.racing/f1/post/hungary-setup

Round 11
Wednesday, 28th July 2021
#HungarianGP Race Setup #F1

Toyoharu Tanabe
Honda Racing F1

The last round at Silverstone was very disappointing, especially with Max going out on the opening lap after a collision and overall, it was Honda’s worst race of the year so far from the point of view of points scored. The first ever Sprint Qualifying was an interesting experiment, but generally it was a difficult weekend for both Honda teams. We now move on to Hungary which marks the mid-point of the season. After four races at relatively high-speed tracks in France, Austria and England, we now come to the Hungaroring. It’s a very different, much slower and technical type of circuit with just one short straight and many slow corners, making overtaking difficult so that qualifying position is very important. We are well used to it being very hot here and combined with the fact that car runs at relatively low speeds, it’s a feature of this event that cooling is an important factor that we have to consider, when optimising our settings. We very much want to finish the first half of the year before summer shutdown with a good race result for all four of our drivers and we have been working hard since Silverstone to prepare for that.

Max Verstappen
Red Bull Racing Honda

I’m happy to get back on track in Hungary this weekend, especially after the last race result. I’m a little bruised of course but that’s normal after such a big impact but I’m training and feeling good.
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I don’t have much to say on all the media hype and to be honest I am not interested in getting involved in any of that. I know what happened at Silverstone as I was in the car and obviously I feel a certain way about how my race ended but now I’m just focusing on making sure we are the best we can be on track so we can stay ahead in the championship. The Team can take care of the official side of things and anything that needs looking into after the crash but my job is the same as always - to be the best I can and try to win on Sunday.
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Perez ...........

Gasly ............

Tsunoda .............

Thank You Wouter! An excellent read, as it tells me everything I was itching to know!

The Unity involved between RedBull and HONDA is outstanding.

[Wouter]

Well, @Slow Poke, more good news!!

https://f1-insider.com/red-bull-max-verstappen-motor-fit-for mel-1-17179/

Aufatmen bei Red Bull: Verstappen und Motor fit

Marko: „Honda hat jetzt grünes Licht für den Unfallmotor gegeben. Er kann weiter eingesetzt werden.
Das heißt, wir müssen jetzt nicht mehr befürchten, irgendwann eine Startplatzstrafe zu bekommen."

Marko: “Honda has now given the green light for the accident engine. It can still be used.
That means we no longer have to worry about getting a starting place penalty at some point. "

[Wouter]

Toyoharu Tanabe
Honda Racing F1

The first day of practice for the Hungarian Grand Prix featured very hot and sunny conditions with ambient temperatures over 30 degrees Celsius and the track getting past the 60 degree mark. Apart from Yuki’s crash in FP1, which cost him most of FP2 track time, the day went smoothly for us.
It was good to see that Max is not suffering any ill effects from the Silverstone crash and we were able to check that the PU that he used in the British GP weekend is working as normal.
However, generally, there is still a lot of room for improvement and that’s what we will be working on now. Qualifying has been very close at most circuits this year and, as is always the case on a short track like the Hungaroring, the lap times will be even closer than usual, so we can expect a very tight battle for qualifying tomorrow.

https://honda.racing/f1/post/hungary-practice

[Wouter]

Race F1 2021 Round 11
Sunday, 1st August 2021
A Frustrating Hungarian GP See's More Damage Limitation For Honda Power
Hungaroring

A frustrating Hungarian Grand Prix saw Red Bull Racing’s hopes wiped out at the first corner but Scuderia AlphaTauri delivered a solid points’ return with both cars in the top seven.

Rain in the 30 minutes before the race saw the whole field starting on intermediates as per the regulations, and Max and Sergio both made great starts from the second row to be fighting for second and third into Turn 1. However, Valtteri Bottas made an error that saw him run into the back of Lando Norris, punting the McLaren into Max while the Mercedes driver took Sergio out of the race.

[ ...... ]

Toyoharu Tanabe
Honda Racing F1

For the second consecutive race, we lost the chance to compete at the front with Red Bull Racing Honda, through no fault of our own. It is hugely frustrating. Checo suffered too much damage to continue in the first corner incident and Max’s car was also very badly damaged. But the mechanics did a fantastic job during the red flag period and so he was able to continue and also push the car hard, although it was still damaged. It’s not much consolation, but at least he was able to fight back to tenth for a point. Both Scuderia AlphaTauri drivers did a good job of avoiding the chaos after the start and raced on patiently. Pierre finished sixth while Yuki was seventh, equalling his best result so far this year. The team has slipped down the order in the Constructors’ classification, but both drivers did a solid job to bring back a good points haul including Pierre’s point for fastest lap. This will be important for our mid field battle in the second half of the season. We now have the summer break, resuming racing at the end of August. It’s a shame we have not finished the first half on a high note, but we will now pause briefly to return refreshed, getting back to work, analysing everything from the first part of the season, being even more motivated to keep fighting for the title and more wins. Finally, congratulations to Esteban Ocon and Alpine on taking their first F1 win.

A few words from tthe drivers, Pierre, Yuki, Max and Sergio .........

[Wouter]

[Wouter]

Max: These 50 races with Honda will always be special and well remembered when we look back. I think of course the first win with Honda will always be the most emotional memory during our time together and hopefully we can end this season on a high with them before they leave the sport. I have enjoyed working with Honda from the start. They have always been straight talking and delivered what we have expected. They spend a lot of time discussing everything with the Team and us as drivers which has been very important.

Toyoharu Tanabe
Honda Racing F1

The two week summer shutdown came after two difficult races at Silverstone and the Hungaroring, so it was a good time for our team members to be able to take a break and come back physically and mentally refreshed, ready to tackle the final part of the 2021 season. The schedule in the second half will be much more intense and it is also the final chapter for Honda in Formula 1.

We start racing again at the famous Spa-Francorchamps track, a classic road circuit and, at just over seven kilometres, the longest on the F1 calendar. The first and third sectors feature long full-throttle sections, making it one of the toughest races of the year from a PU point of view. This weekend’s Belgian Grand Prix will be our 50th race together with Red Bull Racing. We have achieved some fantastic results together, including our first win and pole in the hybrid era and a double podium as well as five consecutive wins.

We want to keep winning, by focusing on one race at a time for the rest of the year with both our teams. Finally, one bit of unfortunate news was announced during the break - the decision to cancel the Japanese Grand Prix because of the pandemic. Everyone at Honda very much regrets that we will not have the opportunity to race and perform well in front of our home fans with our two teams in our last season in Formula 1. However, we are still determined to fight for the wins at each of the remaining rounds.

More on: https://honda.racing/f1/post/belgian-gp-race-setup

[Wouter]

[Wouter]

[ispano6]

[ispano6]

Get in there Super Max! Honda has won the 50th race together with both RedBull Racing and Alpha Tauri! Great job team! Now onto Max's next home race where he hopefully has an advantage!

[Wouter]

[Wouter]

[Wouter]

[bigblue]

Moved this post to the Honda Power Unit thread, which seemed more appropriate.

[ispano6]