Honda Power Unit Hardware & Software

[alexa]

@Wazari

I hope you keep hanging with us,and good luck with your retirment =D>

[ripper]

Enjoy your time and thanks for the info you have shared with us!

[GoranF1]

If the power is there why did Alonso said the power is not there?

[fellowhoodlums]

@Wazari

Thanks for all your time, and for giving us a little faith at times like these.

Roll on Melbourne!

[McL-H]

It amazes me how much effort people take to try and discredit or put down other people on the Internet. To actually email the HR department at Sakura to figure out who I am, to that person, you need to find another hobby. So to all of those who think I’m a fraud or fake, just believe that I’m the head janitor at Sakura and my nephew is a part-time musubi-maker in the cafeteria. You might as well also stop reading here.

To the rest of you, I appreciate your kind words and this forum as I have mentioned is a form of entertainment and diversion for myself. I don’t think I will be posting for a while but will lurk from time to time. The internet has made the world so much smaller. This forum has allowed me to make a few close contacts and even meet one individual in person. Amazing! My contract with HRD ends this month and I am not going to continue. As I approach 70, I realize life is short and some of you know that my daughter has battled cancer twice and I plan on spending more time with her and the grandkids. I also have my personal automotive projects that have been neglected and need attending to. Enough about me.
I’ve always been known as a 反逆者 at Honda so I’m going post my opinion about this year’s PU and HRD in general. I was asked by a Honda enthusiast and journalist about this year’s PU and overall direction and here was my response from March 6th.

F1 has also changed immensely. Mostly the technology has become so complex that I don’t see how this translates to cost cutting. I suppose that eventually some of this technology might find its way into passenger cars but at what price? Can $150,000 ES devices be brought down to a level where it can be used in a $35,000 passenger car? I don’t see it even with economies of scale. At the end of day, everything is still petrol based. How does this translate to alternative fuels, etc.?

The current PU overall I think is very good and I am excited about it. But, lack of actual track testing it makes it difficult. Honda has not used test mules because mainly we don’t know when to stop. That is a fault. HRD is constantly trying to make improvements until the last moment and I struggle at times with this mentality. I was this way in the ‘80’s but I have changed. There comes a point where you need to concentrate on improving what you have built rather than constantly trying to build new versions. This between you and me is Honda’s biggest weakness at this point IMO. This IMO leads to lack of testing time for each upgrade. What is better, 5,000 hours of testing on 10 different versions or 10,000 hours of testing on 5 different versions? Arai-san especially thought the former. Then when I think okay this is good enough for now, some interpret that as quitting. So in this aspect, I get frustrated. My contract ends in 30 days and I will not renew. I am done with F1 as a consultant/engineer. It’s not fun anymore.

So I hope this PU can be exploited to its full potential. The power is there, the efficiency is there and as usual, reliability is the big question mark because mainly of what I have mentioned before. This of course has caused friction between us and McLaren and it is a very, very difficult partnership. I don’t know what the future lies but I know we have put tremendous effort into this PU. Almost everything is new. This is what IMO we should have built for 2015. Things will break. The latest failure was a valve-train issue stemming from an electrical problem. This is a problem that is being addressed currently and I think should be resolved before Melbourne.

Thank you for all your posts on here. It has been a joy to read them and get a real insight into the sport and everything that comes along when developing a PU. As someone who doesn't know anything about the technical aspects, you've really widened my knowledge! Too bad you will quit your job, but I wish you a well deserved retirement and a good time with your daughter and grandchildren. I do hope you'll occasionally find time to share some of your knowledge with us!

[hemichromis]

Is there anyway Honda could take engine penalties at the beginning of the season and leave 3 engines for the end where the penalties would be more damaging?

[The_table]

To be fair, Woking claims they are happy and that it's part of the plan, Sakura seems happy and is quietly ticking along...
Maybe they forgot to tell Alonso that they have a plan?

[bauc]

@Wazari - Thank you for all, and please stop by from time to time to give us some ''food for tonight''

@Manoah2u - Keep the fight bro, life is not about how hard you can hit, but how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward....

All the best for you and you family [-o<

[Wazari]

@Wazari

A shame that this happens. Unfortunately, i've seen even worse than that, but i won't divulge.
Had no idea you were that much more..ehm...'aged'...i thought you to be around 40ish, much respect for
somebody being so active and focused on that age in F1.

Honda will lose a great asset when you will no longer participate there.

I'm dealing with health issues myself still right now - cancer aswell - but i'm glad i'm on the good track.
Family is much more important, and there is not a single better decision than that to focus on. Life is so
fragile when you really look at it.

I haven't got the privilidge to have such insight and span of experience and knowledge on F1 like you have,
but thank you sincerely for being at this board and sharing some of it with us.

Thank you and keep up the fight. Cancer is a dreaded disease and I have witnessed first hand how hard a fight it is.

And yes, I am an old fart.

[Wazari]

Sorry double post.

[mrluke]

Thank you Wazari for all that you have bought to this forum and for the insights you have been able to offer into the challenges Honda have been facing.

Its a shame that Honda have not had the start to the season they would have liked and I think people/F1 needs to realise that the barriers to entry are simply too high. Of the new teams that have joined in the last 10 years none have made it to the mid grid and Honda have clearly made a massive investment and are still not getting any rewards for it.

Its not a healthy position for the sport.

[Craigy]

Is there anyway Honda could take engine penalties at the beginning of the season and leave 3 engines for the end where the penalties would be more damaging?

I believe that would be outside the sporting regulations.

The rules for 2017 also do not permit the build up of a pool of engines on one weekend, as previously was permitted.
You can't change the engine twice (Friday, Saturday) to get a "usable pool" of 3 engines any more.

You must run with the last one only. This difference is in section 23.3 (e):

During any single Event, if a driver introduces more than one of the same power unit element which is subject to penalties, only the last element fitted may be used at subsequent Events without further penalty.

This provision looks like it might directly impact Honda in 2017.

Edited to add detail and fix a typo.

[fellowhoodlums]

There has been no evidence of anyone with an inside source saying engine is detuned.

We are assuming so to maintain a level of reliability but we simply do not know.

Sometimes rumours on here get it right without realising. For example what was said about the main fault which is now confirmed as electrical then we all say no they've heard it's valves and vibrations.....ultimately it is but the central issue is electrical and you would think that it's perfectly fixable but not when you are trying to run the car at a test.

[godlameroso]

Electrical is as generic a term as you can get, many parts are electrical, MGU-H, MGU-K, the alternator(if there is one), control electronics, wiring, batteries, ignition system, even something silly like faulty grounds, or maybe there's something funky going on with the ignition and fuel injection. Who knows.

[garrett]

Michael Schmidt from a m & s stated today that the Honda PU has "fundamental weak spots which cannot be cured before second half of the season........ concerning combustion, vibrations and temperatures."

I don´t want to bash the Sakura people at all, as I highly appreciate Honda´s chutzpah to cross swords with the other, more experienced manufacturers. =D> In contrary to the people at VW, BMW and Ford who are hiding themselves in fear of this arduous competition.

But Alonso will be 36 in July, so solutions have to be found short-term. Not to mention the bad media coverage Honda gets.

As you all may know, Mario Illien has been disbanded from his tasks at Renault as his mission obviously has come to an end. As he managed to elevate the performance of the Renault I would engage him asap to try to sort out the troubles if I were McLaren. Because he knows very well what to do with a troubled PU.

Just saying........