A complete overhaul for Honda’s engine in 2017: a gamble that paid off?

The director of the Honda Formula 1 program, Yusuke Hasegawa, admits that the manufacturer’s decision to adopt an entirely new engine architecture for 2017 involved very large risks.

Since its return to the premier discipline, Honda has been experiencing significant difficulties against its competitors Mercedes, Renault, and Ferrari. However, progress was observed during the 2016 season. For the upcoming season, Honda will be able to develop its engine at will due to the removal of the token system that limited the modifications that could be made to the power units.

Tim Goss, Technical Director of McLaren, recently acknowledged that the decision was made to completely redesign the engine for this new season, with the aim of improving the performance of the power unit.

Here’s a preview of the sound of the Honda engine:

#MCL32 first fire-up. Plug-in your headphones and turn the volume up LOUD. 🎧 🔊 pic.twitter.com/akfxgLr0pd

— McLaren (@McLarenF1) 14 février 2017

In an interview with Autosport, Hasegawa shared his thoughts on this brand new challenge: « the concept is completely different. It’s a very high risk, we don’t know much about this new project. »

When asked when performance gains can be observed, the Japanese responds: « We know it will give us a performance advantage, but the biggest risk is whether we can express our full potential this year. »

He adds that the internal combustion system had become the priority: « If we improve the engine itself, it means an increase in the energy of the exhaust gases. We need to boost the turbine, otherwise we won’t be able to achieve the same level of energy deployment. It is now a matter of conducting the tests. »

I hope that we have understood the direction to take and the elements to improve on the power unit to focus on. But it is not easy to find improvements on the complete internal combustion system.