General Honda F1 Topic

[JordanMugen]

You know, this news has soaked in a bit and I'm really perplexed by these two companies joining forces! As auto manufacturers they are totally different in their cars types, their style their engines and many other things... Such a weird combination.

There is no tie up between Honda and Aston Martin. The tie up is between Honda and the F1 team currently (co)sponsored by Aston Martin.

True, but many are quick to point out that company name is Aston Martin Racing Limited and not Racing Point Limited any more. It's a 10 year arrangement with Aston Martin so there seems little opportunity for Honda Racing to replace Aston Martin Racing as the team naming rights sponsor, unfortunately.

[Hoffman900]

You know, this news has soaked in a bit and I'm really perplexed by these two companies joining forces! As auto manufacturers they are totally different in their cars types, their style their engines and many other things... Such a weird combination.

There is no tie up between Honda and Aston Martin. The tie up is between Honda and the F1 team currently (co)sponsored by Aston Martin.

True, but many are quick to point out that company name is Aston Martin Racing Limited and not Racing Point Limited any more. It's a 10 year arrangement with Aston Martin so there seems little opportunity for Honda Racing to replace Aston Martin Racing as the team naming rights sponsor, unfortunately.

Same as the Mclaren Group vs Mclaren Racing Limited vs Mclaren Automotive, and there are other subsidiaries current and defunct as part of all of those.

I think everyone working in the corporate world knows they structure everything independent of each other (for profit and to manage corporate risk, funding reasons, plus tax advantages), and the corporate mothership owns various percentages of their subsidiaries.

Everyone needs to look at the race team as an entirely separate entity from the road side / branding.

[ispano6]

https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/how- ... /10488913/

It's nice to see Kakuda-san involved as general manager of HRC, that is a huge plus. Hopefully this arrangement will make running HRC a stable operation. It's clear that the board needed to sign off on a financial model that generates income and a customer supply should contribute toward that.

[jworley641]

It is safe to presume that the Honda engine has been running on the engine dyno and simulator at RBT since the Honda to Torro Rosso announcement and possibly even being backed to backed against the 2017 Renault.

I wish there was testing like the old days because not only would we have torro rosso running around with a honda engine already but Red Bull would most likely be testing the Honda engine as well with the expected break up at the end of 2018 with Renault. Honda would also have seen the issues with their 2017 engine much sooner and have been able to put into place solutions much sooner.

[bigblue]

You're a bit late with that post.

[etusch]

Interview with Koji Watanabe, President of HRC

When the automobile industry became more marketing-driven, vehicles started to resemble others and their individuality faded away. For this reason, for the past two years, we have been discussing "What direction should Honda take in the future?” As a result, we decided to reconsider our slogan, and we returned to "The Power of Dreams".

....

Presently, the stagnation of MotoGP is a major issue for Honda/HRC, so we have determined to regain our strength with an all-HRC structure. To this end, the four-wheel development team is involved in MotoGP development, and is moving to produce tangible results as soon as possible.

https://honda.racing/post/2023-koji-watanabe-interview

[Wouter]

Interview with Koji Watanabe, President of HRC

When the automobile industry became more marketing-driven, vehicles started to resemble others and their individuality faded away. For this reason, ......................

https://honda.racing/post/2023-koji-watanabe-interview

.
Thank you for sharing this @etusch!

[KimiRai]

https://www.racefans.net/2023/08/16/tea ... its-krack/

Teams will need “drastic steps” on chassis to suit 2026 power units – Krack

Aston Martin team principal Mike Krack says he shares Red Bull counterpart Christian Horner’s concerns over Formula 1’s 2026 power unit regulations.

Red Bull’s Horner has repeatedly expressed worries this year about the power unit regulations set to be introduced in 2026. Although 1.6-litre V6 engines will be retained, the power unit designs will see heavily revised as F1 plans to drop the MGU-H element and greatly increases electrical power as a proportion of overall output.
Horner suggested that the rules risk creating “Frankenstein” cars and could lead to undesirable driving situations where drivers would have to shift down on long straights to maximise power unit performance. Reigning world champion Max Verstappen has also said the current regulations would produce “terrible” cars based on Red Bull’s early simulator analysis.

In an exclusive conversation with RaceFans, Krack was asked whether the 2026 regulations were a concern to him and his response was: “Yes, it is.”

“It is for all of us,” he continued. “I think the engine manufacturers – or the PU manufacturers that we have to call them – together with the FIA, they made this set of regulations believing that the chassis can follow. And then we have seen that we have to take some drastic steps on the chassis regulations to make it work. But it is technically possible.

“That is why I always say let’s work together in the interests of the whole thing to make it work. I’m quite confident that we can find a set of regs that will make it work and that everybody will be happy with.”

Aston Martin will move on from a long-term partnership with Mercedes predating the 1.6L V6 era when the 2026 power unit formula comes into effect as they switch supplier to Honda. Krack says that his team are already involved in heavy discussions with the Japanese manufacturer about the new power units.

“There is a dialogue on all fronts,” he said. “Be it from sporting – how many passes do you need – be it what structure you need in the paddock, do we sit together, do we do separate, these kind of things because they also have long, long lead times.

“But then it’s also about how is the packaging of the engine in a ’26 chassis from what we know so far. So these are these preliminary talks. You discuss basically from sporting, finance, technical, the whole areas, we all have defined partners or business partners. And the collaboration has started there with discussions regularly. We try to see each other here and there.”

Despite Honda infamously struggling during the early years of the hybrid turbo V6 era after they rejoined F1 as a power unit supplier in 2015, Krack says he is “very confident” that Honda will deliver a strong power unit in 2026.

“I’m very confident because from what I see Honda is fantastic, they are real racers,” Krack said. “They push everything and you see, they are giving the world championship engine.

“It is more about being humble, like how can we cope and how can we maintain a high level with them. But there is no prejudice at all, from what I have seen so far I’m very impressed.”

[ispano6]

Getting some Aston Martin Vibes with that green

[ispano6]

A nice feature on Kakuda-san from this weekend's race.

How Honda's F1 withdrawal turbo-charged its title success
Honda's partnership with Red Bull has become one of the most successful in Formula 1 history.
https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/how- ... /10523572/

[JordanMugen]

Did Honda really sign an exclusive deal with Aston Martin such that a second team like McLaren cannot be added? This seems an oversight.