Метка: Formula-1

Honda 2026 F1 project going «according to plan» with electrical power initial focus

Опубликовано от ASPPA IMAGES ANO


The Japanese marque has spent the past six seasons as Red Bull’s powertrain partner and has achieved success through Max Verstappen’s trio of drivers’ titles, but has renewed its efforts for 2026 as Aston Martin becomes its works team.

With its knowledge of developing V6 internal combustion engines for the current rules, Honda has instead elected to pin its primary efforts on nailing down the electrical infrastructure. This changes to a near 50-50 split in ICE and electrical power underpinned by a 350kW MGU-K, while the turbo-mounted MGU-H has been omitted from the new ruleset. 

This differs from Red Bull’s approach with its own in-house powertrain project, which is now in partnership with Ford as it splits from Honda at the end of 2025; Red Bull has started out by developing an all-new ICE from scratch.

«So far everything is going according to plan. Of course, we cannot go into too much detail, but everything is in line with our own expectations,» explained HRC president Koji Watanabe in an exclusive interview with Autosport.

«We are initially focusing on the electrical side of the engine, so our focus now is mainly on the electric engine parts and on the battery.

«This work is completely in line with our own objectives. In parallel, we are of course developing the internal combustion engine, but at this stage, it is not yet a V6. It is now a single cylinder.

«So far everything is going according to plan. Of course, we cannot go into too much detail, but everything is in line with our own expectations.»

Koji Watanabe, Honda Racing CEO

Koji Watanabe, Honda Racing CEO

Photo by: Motorsport.com / Japan

Although Honda officially left F1 as a full-factory power unit supplier at the end of 2021, it has retained its partnership with Red Bull through its racing division HRC and the continued build of its current power unit following a freeze to the regulations.

Watanabe explained that many of Honda’s staff moved to other projects following the post-2021 partial exit, necessitating a series of new hires to bolster its new 2026 project. 

HRC has also registered a new company in the UK, with the intent of servicing and preparing the new 2026-spec powertrains for Aston Martin, although a location is yet to be determined. The United States-based HRC USA (formerly Honda Performance Developments), which heads up the brand’s IndyCar engine project and Acura’s IMSA efforts, will also become involved.

«When we announced that we would stop our F1 activities, most of the engineers left the F1 department. All important engineers have moved to other projects, including Honda Mobility,» said Watanabe.

«As a result, we have had to fill all these positions again, although it is not entirely the same people. Some people are still the same, but it was a little more difficult for other positions and needs at least a little time.»

«We have registered the [HRC UK] company, but have not decided on the exact location yet. We registered mainly because we want to hire staff in the United Kingdom. 

«Those things take time because you sometimes have to deal with a period of gardening leave. That is why we want to start hiring staff in England this summer and have already registered ourselves.»



Source link

Aston Martin requests right of review for Alonso’s China F1 penalty

Опубликовано от ASPPA IMAGES ANO


Alonso had been given a 10-second time penalty in the sprint and three penalty points on his licence after he collided with Carlos Sainz in the Saturday race.

The Spaniards were fighting over third position when they clashed at Turn 9, which gave the two-time world champion a puncture and led to his retirement from the race. Sergio Perez took advantage of the incident to score a top-three finish.

The stewards decided to take action against Alonso «as per the guidelines on driving standards», but the Aston Martin driver was not convinced he was at fault.

“Turn 7, I think we were evenly matched, then in turn 8 I tried to go to the outside,” he said after the sprint. “But he opened the line to not leave me room, so in turn 9 I did the same thing he did in turn 8.

“I tried to go to the inside to not leave him room on the line, but in turn 8 I opened up so we didn’t touch, and in turn 9 he didn’t open up. So we touched.”

The team will now need to provide fresh evidence to the stewards for them to consider amending their ruling. A first hearing will be held on 3 May with Aston Martin’s and Ferrari’s team managers to determine whether the evidence put forward by the British outfit does warrant the stewards’ consideration.

«It should be noted that this hearing will be held in two parts,» the stewards wrote in their statement. «The first part will be to hear evidence as to whether there is a ‘significant and relevant new element which was unavailable to the party seeking the Review at the time of the decision concerned.’

«Should the Stewards determine, in accordance with Article 14.3 of the FIA International Sporting Code, that such an element exists, a second part of the hearing will be convened at a time to be advised. Any other ‘concerned party’ may seek the permission of the Stewards to be present for the second part of the hearing, should one be convened.»



Source link

Wolff trusts Hamilton to remain «a pro» despite Mercedes F1 hardship

Опубликовано от ASPPA IMAGES ANO


Mercedes’ performance has been up and down since the introduction of new ground-effect regulations in F1 two years ago, and the 2024 season has exemplified this issue so far.

Hamilton branded his W15 «an amazing car» after the first two grands prix in 2024, before admitting to being «the least confident ever» in this machine following practice at the Australian Grand Prix. He then had his «best» feeling of the year on Friday in Japan and achieved second place in the Chinese sprint, but was subsequently knocked out in Q1 at the same circuit.

Despite glimpses of speed, the seven-time world champion is yet to finish a Sunday F1 race in the top six this season. Wolff is nonetheless convinced his driver will remain diligent for the remainder of the campaign, not least in his working relationship with team-mate George Russell.

«I think that Lewis is a pro and has behaved in that way until now, trying to keep his morale up and the morale of the team even if the results don’t come», the Austrian said.

«I have no doubt that this is going to last. He has also been supportive with George.»

Photo by: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images

Hamilton himself stated on Thursday at the Japanese Grand Prix that he was keen to remain focused on his current season with Mercedes, rather than his upcoming move to Ferrari.

«Right now, I want to finish on a high here,» the Briton said. «So all my energy is going into this. Of course, there’s excitement for the future. But right now, we’re going through a difficult place. That’s my challenge.

Read Also:

«That’s where all my energy is going, to try and figure out how we can get ourselves back to the top. How can I work with the guys? How can I give better debriefs, give them better direction to get back fighting at the front?

«I’m a competitor first and foremost, so I want to win. Just thinking about the next year isn’t going to help me do that.»



Source link

RB insists Ricciardo “absolutely” still able to deliver at his best in F1

Опубликовано от ASPPA IMAGES ANO


The Australian has had a challenging start to the 2024 campaign as he has not found himself as confident with the handling of the VCARB 01 as team-mate Yuki Tsunoda.

His struggles even prompted speculation that he could be dropped before the end of the campaign if things did not improve by the summer break.

But off the back of a more encouraging showing in recent races, which coincided with a new chassis in China, RB has made it clear that it maintains total faith in what Ricciardo is able to produce.

And while there is still some more work to be done to get Ricciardo more comfortable with how the car behaves, RB team principal Laurent Mekies has no doubts that the eight-time grand prix winner is the right man to get the job done.

Asked by Autosport if the team felt Ricciardo has exactly the same potential as it saw on his F1 return last year, Mekies said: “Yeah, absolutely.

“It’s the DNA of our job to try to identify what car set-up is needed for both the car and the drivers to perform at their best, and that is what we are doing with both our drivers.

“We have seen a strong growth from Yuki and we are seeing a Daniel getting back on his trajectory.”

Daniel Ricciardo, VCARB 01

Daniel Ricciardo, VCARB 01

Photo by: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images

While Ricciardo has yet to score any points so far this year, Mekies feels that bad luck has had a bigger role in that than a lack of ability.

He says that progress has been clear to see since the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, but hard results have been disguised by unforeseen incidents like his lap-one exit in Japan and being hit by Lance Stroll behind the safety car in China.

“Already in Saudi, we were starting to say that we were seeing stuff that made us understand how to support him better,» added Mekies. «So yeah, the trajectory is good.

“We have not reached the finish line there and we have a few things mid-term coming to help him feel better in the car and to make sure that our car suits his driving style the best.

“But certainly it will be a good confidence boost to see that there is tangible progress like we saw over [the China] weekend.”

While Ricciardo has faced criticism from outside, Mekies has said that internally, the team has seen nothing but determination from him to get on top of the problems he has faced.

“Unlike what is perhaps perceived from the outside, during all this difficult start to the season, he has been very focused, very calm, very rational about it,” he said.

“We looked at the limitations of the car, and what he needed to go faster. Some of the steps you can do quickly, but first you need to understand it. Then once you have understood, some of the steps you can act quickly, and some others will take more time.

“We have tried to tick as many boxes as we could, but we certainly don’t stop here.”

Watch: F1 2024 Miami Grand Prix Preview — Everything You Need to Know



Source link

F1 listened and reacted to ‘Frankenstein car’ concerns

Опубликовано от ASPPA IMAGES ANO


Amid F1’s ongoing preparations for new engine and chassis rules from 2026, there have been some early concerns from teams about the regulations delivering unintended consequences.

There were worries about drivers needing to change down gears on the straights to help charge batteries, while recent findings from simulators about cars spinning out easily with active aero engaged triggered some alarm even though these tests were aimed at proving things that would not work.

Last year, Horner had warned about there being a danger of the chassis regs producing «Frankenstein cars» that were not as good as they should be, simply because they had to cover up for energy shortfalls triggered by the new power units.

But as a final push is now underway to frame the chassis regulations before the end of June, Horner thinks that F1 and the FIA are in a much better shape to make the right decisions needed.

«Obviously it’s a massive change for 2026 and slightly unprecedented to be changing both chassis and engine at the same time,» said Horner.

«Of course, there are unknown factors in that, but there’s been a lot of work done by the FIA. They’ve been collaborating with the teams.

«We’ve been quite vocal, even a year or two ago, about some of the issues, which have been listened to and have been taken on board. So, there’s been solid progress, I would say, that’s been made.

«It’s a clean sheet of paper, a completely clean sheet of paper, with all aspects of the formula, so it’s going to be fascinating to see how the engineers interpret the various regulations and 2026 could look quite different.»

Christian Horner, Team Principal, Red Bull Racing

Christian Horner, Team Principal, Red Bull Racing

Photo by: John Toscano / Motorsport Images

McLaren team principal Andrea Stella felt it was critical for F1 to ensure that the new regulations did not lead to any unintended consequence that could hurt either the competitiveness of the field or the spectacle.

«We are happy that the level of collaboration is intense among the teams and with the FIA,» he said.

«I think when you explore new regulations, it’s normal that you have some ideas, and that you may have prove-outs, that you may want to validate properly. I think so far, we are happy.

«It’s important, as we have said before, that we nail the regulations so that we avoid unintended implications, like to some extent we might have had with this generation of cars.

«We didn’t call them problems, we called them challenges. But, for instance, the porpoising was definitely a bit of a headache, also in real terms for the drivers, not only for the engineers. So happy with the work so far. Good collaboration ongoing.»

While the FIA’s first draft of the 2026 regulations is expected to be ready by the June deadline, it is likely that the rules will be tweaked as teams start to explore them in depth and potential loopholes emerge.

Stella added: «There is still some time to come to the first version of the regulations and also, I think some clarification will happen later. So, there’s still some time.

«But clearly it’s important that we converge soon because the one-and-a-half months can run pretty quickly.»



Source link

Hulkenberg’s China sprint shows Haas «not completely out» of tyre issues

Опубликовано от ASPPA IMAGES ANO


Haas has made considerable progress on the issue that blighted its F1 campaign last year, which was caused by a fundamental aerodynamic imbalance that meant the VF-23 could get its tyres working well for qualifying, but would then chew through them in races.

In preparing its VF-24 2024 challenger in pre-season testing, Haas spent most of its time in Bahrain completing long-run efforts in a bid to reduce its tyre problem through the design changes it had made in the off-season.

These appeared to pay off, with Hulkenberg scoring in the season’s second round and Komatsu having felt «we can race this year in the midfield» from the season-opener before Hulkenberg and Kevin Magnussen doubled up in Australia.

In last weekend’s opening race in Shanghai, Hulkenberg plummeted from a 13th-place starting spot to finish last, blaming «a wrong turn on the set-up» as he quickly encountered severe tyre degradation while running in the pack.

After Hulkenberg scored a point with 10th in the following day’s grand prix, Komatsu explained how his driver’s inconsistent weekend highlighted the ‘fine-margins’ challenge Haas is still facing to avoid high levels of tyre wear.

When asked if Haas felt the old tyre situation had been fully solved or if Hulkenberg’s sprint situation had caught it by surprise, Komatsu replied: «I wouldn’t say it’s gone, gone».

«For instance, we expected certain things [in China], we experienced something different,» he told Autosport.

Nico Hulkenberg, Haas VF-24, Valtteri Bottas, Kick Sauber C44

Nico Hulkenberg, Haas VF-24, Valtteri Bottas, Kick Sauber C44

Photo by: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images

«You can look at Nico’s sprint – it’s not only the tyre problem, but a result of a few combined factors, [but] we killed Nico’s tyre.

«I cannot say still [that] 100% we are completely over it. I think this circuit, with this temperature, and then these compounds exposed some new areas.

«But because we focused on that I think [it’s] something we can work on to improve to cover.

«[If] we come here again, we’ll probably come up with slightly different configurations, which we haven’t got at this minute.»

«If you look at Kevin’s [sprint] race – a solid race, finished in P10. But his pace wasn’t great.

«The way Nico dropped back is not one factor – it’s a combination of factors. But you can see how sensitive it is.

«If you get into certain conditions, scenarios, if you don’t have the margin to keep the tyres in a good state, that’s what can happen.

«So then, learning from that, we need to have a car – everything, set-up configuration, driving – to give ourselves a bit more margin so that if certain situations happen, the tyres not gonna die [and] we’re not completely out of it.»

Komatsu added that «it’s good that we put it right for this [main] race» via returning to a previous set-up arrangement Haas knew would work for the tyres over longer stints rather than some «slight differences» it tried that «actually made the car worse», as Hulkenberg was referring too.

He concluded: «Nico’s [GP] pace, it wasn’t amazing, but still, it’s pretty good [to score a point].»



Source link

Honda «very surprised» by «unbelievable» Red Bull 2024 F1 car changes

Опубликовано от ASPPA IMAGES ANO


Red Bull crushed the 2023 season by winning 21 out of 22 grands prix, with its early dominance allowing the team to hold off on producing many in-season car upgrades.

Instead, the team focused most of its resources on 2024, producing a car that looks substantially different despite its predecessor’s successes.

Its decision to go for an aggressive evolution for the RB20 — instead of playing it safe — paid off, with Verstappen winning four out of the first five races of the year, and team-mate Sergio Perez also finding more confidence and competitiveness in the new car.

The Milton Keynes squad’s drastic re-design also involved a lot of installation changes for its Honda power unit.

Speaking exclusively to Motorsport.com/Autosport, Honda Racing Corporation president Koji Watanabe said the engine manufacturer was taken aback by all the changes that were made.

«For this year’s Red Bull car, we were very surprised to see that they changed so much for the RB20,» Watanabe said.

«Last year we won 21 out of the 22 races together, but they still changed the concept. It is unbelievable!

«They made a lot of requests to adapt our engine to the new concept for the RB20. After we saw the RB20 in real life we were so surprised by all the changes that they made.»

Sergio Perez, Red Bull Racing RB20

Sergio Perez, Red Bull Racing RB20

Photo by: Andy Hone / Motorsport Images

In addition to adapting its mounting points to the new chassis, Honda also continued efforts to make its power unit more reliable, which Watanabe explained gave Red Bull more design freedom to place its cooling solutions.

«Of course, we cannot increase the power [under the engine freeze], but we can adapt the engine to the new machine,» Watanabe said.

«Apart from that, we can also improve the reliability of the engine. That is what we have done over the past winter.

«This has given Red Bull more freedom for their design and for their aerodynamic concept. That is why they could change the position of the oil coolers, radiators, etcetera.

«Sometimes last year we had a risk to damage the power unit that did not become big trouble in the end, but we always need to minimise the risk.

«That is why we have made our best effort to improve the reliability of the engine even further for this year.»



Source link

F1 teams downplay risks of ‘sprint cars’ with new parc ferme rules

Опубликовано от ASPPA IMAGES ANO


The Shanghai round was the first event where F1’s latest sprint format has been deployed –with the parc ferme restrictions on car adjustments relaxed between the two Saturday sessions.

This opened the possibility for teams to run very experimental set-ups in the shorter races – especially for cars starting outside the top 10 on the grid – but in practice, the competitors felt any changes they could make were more limited, even if they might be considered aggressively hopeful.

“We had a lot of those discussions coming into the event of [regarding] rear wing level setup [etc],” said Aston Martin performance director Tom McCullough. “But ultimately doing a 19-lap [sprint] stint is still hard and you can’t really make two big a change compared to the main race.”

McCullough also suggested the sprint-to-GP changes F1 teams made in China were actually relatively bigger than the adjustments to be made elsewhere to improve in-race tyre wear for the longer contests.

This is because of the Shanghai track’s altered surface and the teams lacking data with the new ground-effect cars for that venue pre-weekend.

“It was maybe bigger here just because we’ve not been here for so long,” he added.

“The 2019 cars when we were last here had rear ride heights three times the rear ride heights we are running now and the stiffness of the car, everything’s so different the tyres, the aero.

Fernando Alonso, Aston Martin AMR24

Fernando Alonso, Aston Martin AMR24

Photo by: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images

“We all simulated and prepared, [and] the track grip itself was maybe worse – more rear limiting than in the past which I think we kind of predicted just to have these tyres and how the generation of cars are working.

“[Aston] sort of walked where we thought, ‘you get one run [in FP1], bang you make some changes before sprint quali’.

“But after the sprint race really you learn the most in high fuel long running. A 30-odd-kg long run, you learn.

“And then we were like, ‘Right, what’s going to happen when we put another 70kg of fuel in, which are the tyres we’re gonna have to look after what do we need to do, bang, make some changes’.

“They weren’t big changes, really. Everyone up and down the pit lane would have made [those] changes.”

The Shanghai weekend’s most dramatic set-up adjustment results turnaround came via Haas’s Nico Hulkenberg, whose sprint set-up “actually made the car worse”, per Haas team principal Ayao Komatsu.

Hulkenberg fell from starting 13th to finish last in the sprint before the American squad was able to go back to a proven arrangement and he scored a point in the GP.

Nico Hulkenberg, Haas VF-24

Nico Hulkenberg, Haas VF-24

Photo by: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images

McLaren team boss Andrea Stella reckons “this reopened parc ferme will certainly be used for tuning the balance of the car”, but added, “sometimes this could be large changes if you see you are significantly off”.

He continued: “The possibility to reopen parc ferme after the sprint has two implications. The first one is that the weekend is slightly more forgiving.

“Because if you got some ride heights wrong, or you see that the balance needs adjustments based on the tyre behaviour, for instance, you can do it.

“And this, at the same time, I think allows you to be slightly more aggressive in the first place in terms of what direction to take, or, for instance, in terms of ride heights, because you can compensate.

“And we actually from a purely engineering point of view found this interesting because we had the opportunity to see the balance in the sprint.

“Obviously, if there were some silver bullets, we would have deployed them already.

“So, we talked about not much more than some fine-tuning. But it’s interesting from an engineering point of view that you can do it. This change for us is very welcome.”



Source link

RB plans Miami upgrade to keep «surfing on the top» of F1 midfield fight

Опубликовано от ASPPA IMAGES ANO


The Faenza-based squad has found itself locked in an intense fight with Haas for supremacy of the five-squad chasing pack that is behind F1’s top teams of Red Bull, Ferrari, McLaren, Mercedes and Aston Martin.

The current competitiveness of the F1 grid means that there are scant few points on offer for the bottom five teams, meaning Haas and RB have to pull out all the stops to capitalise on any opportunities that come their way.

PLUS: The F1 hero to zero dividing line that has never been so thin

RB currently leads that private battle from Haas, having scored seven points so far this year to its rival’s five, but a double DNF in China proved costly in not allowing it to stretch its advantage.

With so little performance difference between teams, any gains are critical, which is why RB has elected to bring some developments to Miami despite it being a sprint event.

Speaking to Autosport about the midfield battle, team boss Laurent Mekies said: «We’ll have an update in Miami to help us try to keep surfing on the top of that very edge.

«There is nothing guaranteed in this group. I’m sure our competitors will bring updates as well and only if you nail the weekend will you get to that P10.»

Laurent Mekies, Team Principal, RB F1 Team

Laurent Mekies, Team Principal, RB F1 Team

Photo by: Red Bull Content Pool

RB has appeared to have the pace edge over Haas at times this season, but its rival has managed to bring home a decent stack of points.

Mekies said the margins between the two teams were so small, though, that he had no confidence to state that his squad was in control of the fight.

PLUS: How studying Tost, Whiting and Binotto shaped F1’s latest team boss

«We have never been confident that we have the quickest car of the five [teams at the back],» said Mekies.

«We got it there by half a tenth in Australia, half a tenth in Japan and we missed it by a 10th and a half in China.

«In the race, we were probably equal, or if not half a tenth ahead. So we have never had any confidence. It’s a battle every time.

«But it’s a fantastic exercise for everyone. It’s superb training for the team to execute sharp weekends, and you need a strong race from every perspective

«It’s only by doing that you will get a point. As soon as one of these elements, be it tyre management, strategy, or anything, falls off the cliff, you will give up that point.»

Watch: Adrian Newey Set to Leave Red Bull



Source link