Honda Power Unit Hardware & Software

[ollandos]

Andrew Benson ‏@andrewbensonf1
First glance at lap-time breakdown - Button second fastest in twisty final sector to Hamilton. Admittedly on the soft tyre not medium.
But the McLaren is 10-14km/h down on a Mercedes car (depending on which one) at the speed trap at the end of the pit straight

[Joseki]

I really doubt anyone is running at 100%, and I believe Honda it's not pushing its ERS system very hard.

[bauc]

I really doubt anyone is running at 100%, and I believe Honda it's not pushing its ERS system very hard.

Agreed, I think they need to check if the new parts are showing any of the old issues or they are working good. If everything is checked and approved, I'm sure we will see much better performance from the PU.

[FW17]

10-12 KPH would mean there is no improvement from last year at the moment (surely not the case).

If they are not pushing the engine in a 8 day test program, what are they waiting for? Are they sandbagging to surprise the Mercedes engine?

[Joseki]

I think it's also critical for them to not stop on track, they have just one car for gatering data, it's not like Mercedes or Ferrari for them. Also they came from a very difficult season, the drivers were not very happy with Honda and the huge "McLaren-Honda made no progress after 12 months" storm would have hit them really hard.

[Joseki]

https://twitter.com/RoboCoPJ/status/701834028983447552 They are still saying the ICE is the 2015 one.

[vantage87]

[vantage87]

Jenson Button says Honda have made massive improvements to the deployment of electrical energy over the winter after completing his first miles in the 2016 McLaren.

"It is difficult to say in terms of power because this won't be the engine we take to the first race. The deployment is so much better. I don't know if it is the same as the other guys have but it feels like it is. That is a big step for us," Button said.
"This isn't a track where you struggle for deployment over one timed lap, but over a long run we were struggling massively and losing four or five tenths on a lap, whereas now we don't so we have gained lap time back over a long run.
"It is much better, very easy to understand the deployment and to play with it and it listens to change which is good. It is good to see all the hard work over the winter has paid off."

[hemichromis]

10-12 KPH would mean there is no improvement from last year at the moment (surely not the case).

If they are not pushing the engine in a 8 day test program, what are they waiting for? Are they sandbagging to surprise the Mercedes engine?

Well the Mercedes engine seems to be already well sorted.
The Honda engine really is just being tested at the moment.

Wasn't the speed trap difference 20kph all last year?

[Joseki]

So we know for sure this is not the finale 2016 package.

[hemichromis]

So we know for sure this is not the finale 2016 package.

I'm taking it as a positive.

[amho]

Andrew Benson ‏@andrewbensonf1
First glance at lap-time breakdown - Button second fastest in twisty final sector to Hamilton. Admittedly on the soft tyre not medium.
But the McLaren is 10-14km/h down on a Mercedes car (depending on which one) at the speed trap at the end of the pit straight

Does anyone has absolute speed trap data? maybe Mercedes has improved too, so the difference between Honda and Mercedes is remained static.

[ESPImperium]

The good thing is they are getting more mileage from this time this year than last year.

They have got about a third of the new components on the PU at present, they are to my info using the 2015 ICE, CE and TC, they are testing new MGU-K and MGU-H and a few other items. They wont have their new TC till Melbourne and that's the last of the items they need to make the stride to the alleged 880hp mark. That will still be 30-40hp down on the Mercedes and Ferrari PUs, but there is new Esso fuels and Mobil1 lubricants on the way for Bahrain that will be worth that figure I hear.

I am confident the Honda will be of Mercedes and Ferrari standard by some time this year, its progress, lots of progress. I'm confident that the McLaren-Honda will get a win or two this year. Id recon it will be in the latter third when Honda and McLaren are throwing parts at each car for the sake of evolution.

I'm not surprised they are not putting the engine onto full banzai map, id be cautious, make sure no issues appear and make sure that none of the issues of the plagued 2015 season start to appear again. Improvement, but cautious improvement. If all is well, and they can do 100 laps a day on Wednesday or Thursday, do it, and then check the banzai level at certain points.

[ME4ME]

The good thing is they are getting more mileage from this time this year than last year.

They have got about a third of the new components on the PU at present, they are to my info using the 2015 ICE, CE and TC, they are testing new MGU-K and MGU-H and a few other items. They wont have their new TC till Melbourne and that's the last of the items they need to make the stride to the alleged 880hp mark. That will still be 30-40hp down on the Mercedes and Ferrari PUs, but there is new Esso fuels and Mobil1 lubricants on the way for Bahrain that will be worth that figure I hear.

I am confident the Honda will be of Mercedes and Ferrari standard by some time this year, its progress, lots of progress. I'm confident that the McLaren-Honda will get a win or two this year. Id recon it will be in the latter third when Honda and McLaren are throwing parts at each car for the sake of evolution.

I'm not surprised they are not putting the engine onto full banzai map, id be cautious, make sure no issues appear and make sure that none of the issues of the plagued 2015 season start to appear again. Improvement, but cautious improvement. If all is well, and they can do 100 laps a day on Wednesday or Thursday, do it, and then check the banzai level at certain points.

I applaud you for your positivist, but I think it's highly unlikely for Mclaren-Honda to win any races at all this year. For that to happen, they need to out-develop Mercedes and Ferrari this year, which I don't see happening. Ferrari is throwing everything it's got at this years championship, and Mercedes will do the same to counter. So it will be those two teams at the front, followed by Williams and Red Bull (latter part of the year). I think realistically Mclaren won't even make it onto the podium on merit. I think they will battle it out with Toro Rosso for 5th in the WCC this year. 2017 will be much better for them, surely, so the focus must be to develop the PU.

[PlatinumZealot]

The good thing is they are getting more mileage from this time this year than last year.

They have got about a third of the new components on the PU at present, they are to my info using the 2015 ICE, CE and TC, they are testing new MGU-K and MGU-H and a few other items. They wont have their new TC till Melbourne and that's the last of the items they need to make the stride to the alleged 880hp mark. That will still be 30-40hp down on the Mercedes and Ferrari PUs, but there is new Esso fuels and Mobil1 lubricants on the way for Bahrain that will be worth that figure I hear.

I am confident the Honda will be of Mercedes and Ferrari standard by some time this year, its progress, lots of progress. I'm confident that the McLaren-Honda will get a win or two this year. Id recon it will be in the latter third when Honda and McLaren are throwing parts at each car for the sake of evolution.

I'm not surprised they are not putting the engine onto full banzai map, id be cautious, make sure no issues appear and make sure that none of the issues of the plagued 2015 season start to appear again. Improvement, but cautious improvement. If all is well, and they can do 100 laps a day on Wednesday or Thursday, do it, and then check the banzai level at certain points.

I want to disagree with the bolded part, but when I think about it, it does make sense. Using the same turbo and ICE might explain why they still have that large speed deficit. However, I don't think they will wait till melbourne to try the new ICE and Turbo. It is just too risky. I think it is in their best interest to change these parts ahead of the 2nd test.