Toro Rosso: Honda offers more freedom than previous F1 engine suppliers by Oleg Karpov

HondaNewsToday. - This is news from Honda racing information with the title Toro Rosso: Honda offers more freedom than previous F1 engine suppliers that written by Oleg Karpov.

Source: ABC15

Toro Rosso boss Franz Tost says there is "a big difference" between his team's newfound status as Honda's Formula 1 partner and its previous relationships with engine suppliers.

The Red Bull-owned outfit has used Cosworth, Ferrari and Renault engines since it joined F1 in 2006, before completing a three-year deal with Honda from 2018.

Ahead of the team's first race with the Japanese manufacturer, Tost explained that Toro Rosso's new partnership has so far been unlike any relationship with its previous suppliers.

"It is a big difference, believe me," Tost told Autosport. "This starts with the design of the car.

"In the past, we just got a power unit and suppliers said: 'Look, this is the power unit, with the pipes, with all the aggregates, just put it into your car'.

"Now our designers are sitting together with the Honda engineers, they think 'OK, how can we create the oil tank, for example, in front of the engine, how to put it in a best possible way into the chassis.'

"Or the exhaust system. This is a big impact on the aerodynamics on the side of the car.

"Also, when you get the hot air from radiators to the back, where do you get it out?

"In former times, we just had to find the way, and now we are discussing it with Honda."

Toro Rosso and its previous supplier, Renault, found themselves at odds over the causes of poor late-season engine reliability.

Tost reckoned the new Honda partnership was "the first time" his team had this much input on the engine side, and said Toro Rosso engineers were relishing the freedoms they had in setting up the power unit.

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Alonso: Difficult to predict whether Honda will come good

HondaNewsToday. - This is news from Honda race information with the title Alonso: Difficult to predict whether Honda will come good that published in ESPN site.

Source: ABC15

Fernando Alonso has no doubt Honda is working flatout to resolve its issues, but says it is still too early to predict whether the Japanese manufacturer will produce a winning engine in time for the the start of next year.

Alonso is now in the third year of his McLaren return, but another slow start to the season for engine supplier Honda has left him off the pace with just ten points from ten races. His current contract is due to expire at the end of this year and is expected to make a decision on his future in the coming month.

Asked on Thursday at the Belgian Grand Prix if he still has faith in the Honda project, Alonso replied: "I've shown everyone and proved that I have faith in everything, I've been here three years with different situations. The first year was very difficult with a lot of problems, the second year with a good progress I think and a midfield car in most of the races.

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Honda: One year "not enough" to develop new engine concept by Lawrence Barretto

HondaNewsToday. - This is news from Honda F1 information with the title Honda: One year "not enough" to develop new engine concept that written by Lawrence Barretto and published in Motorsport site.

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Honda's Yusuke Hasegawa feels the manufacturer did not have enough time to fully prepare the new power unit concept it introduced in the off-season.

Honda has struggled with unreliability and a lack of power this season, but it retains faith in the concept, which it plans to keep for next year.

It currently has several research programmes focused on 2018 running alongside its normal development.

Project leader Hasegawa, who said back in February the move to revamp the power unit was "very high-risk", admits Honda underestimated the challenge of changing concept.

“From the concept point of view, yes, we underestimated it,” he told Motorsport.com. “Although it took a bit of time to stabilise, we understand it was a stage we had to overcome - it was very tough.

“We thought we had enough preparation time, which is why we started this year’s engine development in May, but one year is not enough.

“Theoretically speaking, we have already achieved some good steps. We are in the middle of our target but we need more steps to catch the top runners.”

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McLaren will give Honda plenty of 'runway' by Reuters

HondaNewsToday. - This is news from Honda for F1 information with the title McLaren will give Honda plenty of 'runway' by Reuters.

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McLaren say they must have a competitive engine next season but are prepared to give Honda as much time as possible before deciding whether to stay or split.

The Formula One team's executive director Zak Brown told reporters at the weekend's Austrian Grand Prix that there were signs of improvement but time was pushing on.

"It's still very much a work in progress," said the American.

"We need to figure out our relationship with them moving forward, soon. You start getting in to next year's car (design) in the next few months and what we have to have is a competitive engine for next year.

"They're working hard on it and doing some things that are for them to speak about to make those improvements. So we want to give them as much runway as possible to get there."

McLaren, the second most successful team after Ferrari in terms of race wins, are bottom of the standings as they approach the midpoint of the season at their home British Grand Prix next weekend.

Neither two times world champion Fernando Alonso nor Belgian rookie Stoffel Vandoorne was able to add to the meagre tally of two points, despite qualifying a more encouraging 12th and 13th at Spielberg.

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Fernando Alonso Expects 'Nothing' From Latest Honda Engine Update by Caleb Jacobs

HondaNewsToday. - This is news from Honda F1 information with the title Fernando Alonso Expects 'Nothing' From Latest Honda Engine Update that written by Caleb Jacobs and published in Thedrive.

Source: ABC15

Fernando Alonso's faith in Honda seems to be beyond repair. He's given them deadlines, threatened to leave the McLaren team, and spoken out about his discontent with his car's engine time and time again. Honda has tried to revise its engines to bring them up to Alonso's standards, but to no avail. A new "spec 3" upgrade was tested in Baku, and both Alonso and his McLaren teammate Stoffel Vandoorne will run the engine in Austria; however, the Spaniard star isn't expecting much.

Alonso was interviewed at an FIA event recently by EFE News, and when asked what he thought about Honda's latest efforts, he said "I think the engine is good for the team to do a press release, but it is practically the same. Any upgrade is welcome, but there is no change with the new engine. We already tried it in Baku practice, but we were last and second to last," Autoweek reports

Obviously, those aren't encouraging words from the former world champion. Even more disconcerting was Alonso's response when he was asked what he expected out of the "spec 3" revision -- he simply said "nothing".

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