Honda plans upgrades for next F1 test after tough start for McLaren

By Jonathan Noble of www.autosport.com

Honda will introduce a host of upgrades to its latest Formula 1 engine for the next test at Barcelona to solve the reliability problems that it suffered at Jerez this week.

The Japanese manufacturer faced a spate of niggling issues with its new power unit in F1's first 2015 test, which included sensor problems, oil level issues and a fuel pump failure.

With the reliability dramas limiting Honda's running to 79 laps over four days, it is clear a step forward is needed ahead of the next test which begins on February 19.


Honda's motorsport chief Yasuhiso Arai has no doubts that the difficulties it has faced this week will be sorted so that its Barcelona-spec engine will run better.

"There are many difficulties that we had this week, but we will fix it before the next Barcelona test and get back to work again," he told AUTOSPORT.

"The new engine will be a step up, because we are taking things step-by-step. Some parts will be final [race] parts, but not all.

"There are several testing parts still, and we will take final confirmation on those just before Melbourne."

Arai said that he had still total faith that Honda and McLaren would be able to perform strongly this season, and said he was encouraged that the Jerez dramas were not caused by any major design fault.

"There was no major big trouble," he said. "Our package is very tight and skinny, but some points have been validated.

"It is a tight package, but we had no big trouble with it."

Source;
http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/117604

TopGear: Listen to the new McLaren-Honda

Your first taste of 2015’s most anticipated new Formula One car. But who’ll be driving it?

Honda is returning to the Formula One grid to power next year's McLaren MP4-29H/1X1. For anyone who remembers McLaren's late 80s/early 90s form, this is news to get excited about.

For those that don't, a smidge of context. McLaren switched to Honda power for the 1988 Formula One season, using a 1.5-litre turbocharged V6 engine powering the cars of Messrs Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost.

Were they successful, you might ask? Fuhgeddaboudit. It was almost embarrassing; McLaren won 15 of the 16 races that year, taking the constructors' and drivers' championships with it.

McLaren won both 1989 titles too, with Honda's new 3.5-litre V10. And then again in 1990. And then again in 1991. The partnership with Honda then, was bloody successful.

So, after a dismal few years, McLaren has reenlisted the help of its former Japanese partner for next year. The video above gives you a little taster of what it'll sound like - and we must stress it's a very little taster. And judging from the car's first tests, there's still some work to be done - electrical issues blighted the first test at Abu Dhabi, and it then completed just three laps in total, following a ‘fuel/data exchange issue'. This sounds like quite a big issue.

Nevertheless, McLaren reckons the test was useful, and has all its fingers and toes crossed that come Australia next year, it'll give the Mercs a run for their money.

But with the team still undecided on its driver line-up (though Fernando Alonso is hotly tipped to make up half of it), who'd you like to see behind the wheel of the new McLaren-Honda?

Source;
http://www.topgear.com/uk/car-news/mclaren-honda-formula-one-car-2015-first-video-2014-12-01

Video: Honda’s 2015 F1 Engine Teased

Not long after revealing the first image of its 2015 Formula One engine, Honda has released an interesting video of the powertrain. It provides us with some up close details of the engine while also previewing how it sounds albeit under some fairly loud music.
Honda left Formula One as an engine supplier back in 2008 but due to the new turbocharged V6 engines adopted this year, has decided to return to the top form of motorsport for next season. Just the McLaren cars will use the Honda engines but there’s a possibility more teams will adopt the Honda engine in coming years depending on their success.

Source;
http://www.gtspirit.com/2014/10/13/video-hondas-2015-f1-engine-teased/

Updated: McLaren and Honda discuss road car collaboration

The relationship between the British sports car manufacturer and Japanese automotive giant looks set to go much deeper than a Formula 1 engine deal

McLaren and Honda are considering ways to extend their Formula 1 tie-up into road cars, McLaren Group CEO Martin Whitmarsh has confirmed.

Earlier this year, Honda announced that it would return to F1 as an engine supplier to McLaren Racing in 2015. The two companies enjoyed a fruitful partnership in F1 between 1988 and the end of 1992, winning four drivers’ championships and four constructors’ crowns during that spell.

Whitmarsh described the new deal as a “multi-year” one, and his comments suggest that there is scope for a much deeper co-operation that could spread into McLaren’s automotive division.

“It’s a pure Formula 1 contract, but we’ve already been looking at automotive technology and we’re sharing that very openly,” said Whitmarsh at last weekend’s Hungarian Grand Prix. “Our road car strategy at the moment has no other automotive partner and 
Honda would be a good place 
to collaborate.”

Whitmarsh said the results of any Honda involvement in future McLaren road cars wouldn’t be seen for some years. The company is currently working on the third model in its contemporary range, the Porsche 911-
rivalling P13, but Honda hasn’t had any input into that car.

“If you look at our product range, 12C is running and will run for a few more years. P1 has just been launched and P13, which is the follow-up car, is relatively developed, so actually it is something that you would see in quite a few years to come,” he said.

A deeper relationship between McLaren and Honda would most likely be a bilateral technical arrangement, with both sides reaping the benefits for their road car projects.

“Nothing’s fixed, but we’re open to that and so are they,” said Whitmarsh.

It has also been reported that a McLaren 12C is being used in Acura's benchmarking tests for the new NSX in America.

A subsequent statement issued jointly by Honda and McLaren stressed that the immediate focus was on Formula 1: “On 16 May 2013, Honda announced its decision to participate in Formula 1 from the 2015 season, under a joint project with McLaren. This has led to a full, open and productive working relationship with McLaren. As Martin Whitmarsh has stated, many ideas have been discussed between McLaren and Honda colleagues.

"However, we both know how challenging it is to win in Formula 1, and we need to be 100 per cent committed to that task. Therefore, at this stage, all our focus is towards the development of the 2015 Formula 1 car and powertrain, and there are no plans for collaboration on other projects at this moment.”

Source;
http://www.autocar.co.uk/car-news/new-cars/updated-mclaren-and-honda-discuss-road-car-collaboration

Sound of Honda – Ayrton Senna 1989 is a must-watch!

If you have any affinity for motorsports and Formula 1 at all, then this stunning video is a must watch. Here’s Honda paying tribute to the sport’s best known and undisputedly most talented driver of all time, the great Aryton Senna, in a way that is unheard of before.

Sound of Honda – Ayrton Senna 1989 is a visual and aural recreation of the late three-time world champion’s spectacular qualifying lap for the unforgettable 1989 Japanese Grand Prix in Suzuka, where he set a time that was one and a half second clear of his teammate and championship rival, Alain Prost.

Honda used thousands of speakers and light fixtures calibrated with Senna’s telemetry data to duplicate the iconic lap in dramatic fashion. There was no car on the track, but the enormity of the achievement was duly felt. Honda and McLaren will be teaming up in F1 again in 2015, so this tribute also serves as a timely reminder to fans of the great partnership they once had.

What a lap. What a driver. There’s truly no other.

Source;
http://paultan.org/2013/07/29/sound-of-honda-ayrton-senna-1989-is-a-must-watch/

Honda gears up for F1 return as engine supplier

Honda Motor Co. is looking to return to Formula One motor racing as an engine supplier around 2015, a source said Monday.

Honda plans to supply new engines with small displacements, possibly teaming up with its former partner McLaren of Britain, the source said.

Honda withdrew from the F1 grid after 2008 in light of financial difficulties caused by the global financial crisis. The annual costs of joining the race are believed to have topped ¥40 billion at the time.

Honda will carefully assess the financial impact of returning to the sport before making a final decision, the sources said.

Honda, which first joined F1 in 1964, joined for a second stint from 1983 to 1992 and a third between 2000 and 2008.

During its second stint, Honda collected 69 victories under such talented drivers as Ayrton Senna da Silva, triggering an F1 boom in Japan.

The 2015 comeback would be the company’s fourth.

A comeback would likely allow Honda to use F1 technology in producing mass-market vehicles, since the race is set to make a switch in engine specifications to 1,600cc turbocharged V6s from 2,400cc V8s in 2014.

Honda plans to launch several new models around 2015.

Toyota Motor Corp. pulled out of F1 in 2009, leaving the sport devoid of Japanese automakers.

Earlier, vehicle makers Yamaha Motor Co. and Fuji Heavy Industries Ltd. had also provided engines for F1 racing teams.

Source;
http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2013/03/18/business/honda-gears-up-for-f1-return-as-engine-supplier/#.UUcfRjeReNo

Acura says sports-car prototype operation will continue

So, even though Honda is backing away from F1, they are still working on a the LMP1 Sports Car. My guess is that as soon as this economic downturn starts to rebound we'll see Honda back at the F1 table.For those paying close attention, the stunning news that Honda will quit Formula One effective immediately raises another question: what does the news mean for the LMP1-class sports-car prototype program that Honda subsidiary Acura announced Labor Day weekend during the Detroit Grand Prix?

Attempts to reach Honda Performance Development officials on Friday were unsuccessful, but the company released the following statement:


"It is unfortunate that current global economic challenges have necessitated the cessation of Honda’s participation in Formula One racing. However, Honda’s U.S.-based motorsports activities are expected to continue in 2009.


"Racing has played an essential role in Honda’s history as a company, and the competition that racing provides has always been a cornerstone of Honda’s corporate values. We race to learn, and we race to win. We plan to continue both of those traditions in 2009 and beyond."

However, with the cost of an LMP1 program believed to reach--and exceed--$60 million, the question remains: Does Honda's F1 pullout portend more bad news for racing fans? With Audi announcing on Friday that it will also scale back its hugely successful diesel-powered LMP1 effort in 2009, a best-case scenario for the American Le Mans Series could see Acura racing for wins between its own Highcroft Racing and De Ferran Motorsports teams. Certainly, there will be no Acura vs. Audi all-out factory factory efforts in 2009.


Source;http://www.autoweek.com/article/20081206/FREE/812069997

Honda Pulls out of Formula One Racing, Cites Global Downturn

The title pretty much says it all. I have put together a few links to some of the news. Sad day for Honda Racing.

Here are the links;

http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/Honda-quits-F1-racing-cites/story.aspx?guid=%7B495F98DF-4B9F-45A7-A192-316E69F1BA14%7D


http://www.torontosun.com/sports/othersports/2008/12/05/7641291-sun.html


http://www.edmunds.com/insideline/do/News/articleId=137228


http://blogs.indystar.com/racingexpert/2008/12/dec_5.html


http://www.indystar.com/article/20081205/SPORTS0107/812050477/1052/SPORTS01