It has taken four-and-a-half-years but a Honda power unit has finally propelled a Formula 1 car to victory at a grand prix. Motorsport Week reflects on the marque’s long route to redemption
The V8 era
Honda fully acquired the British American Racing outfit at the end of 2005 and for 2006 the Honda Racing name properly returned to Formula 1. The first year yielded a pole position, podiums and in extraordinary circumstances a victory in wet/dry conditions at the Hungaroring for Jenson Button. It was regarded as the catalyst for a Honda rejuvenation in Formula 1 but it proved to be the high point. Honda’s 2007 car, dubbed the Earth Car for its environmental-inspired livery, was a disaster, and the 2008 successor was little better, leaving Honda towards the rear of the pack. The 2009 regulations provided motivation for the Brackley-based outfit but the global financial crisis hit Japanese businesses hard and in December 2008 Honda pulled the plug on its Formula 1 project. Ross Brawn and Nick Fry kept the outfit going and famously executed a stunning double title triumph in 2009.
The difficult return year
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Honda announced in mid-2013 that it would return to Formula 1 from 2015 on an exclusive basis with McLaren, which was seeking to re-establish itself as a top dog in the series in the wake of partner Mercedes becoming a works team once more. The initial laps in late 2014 proved to be foreboding as a litany of problems limited the team to just six laps across two test days in Abu Dhabi. The early signs in 2015 were not good. A lack of deployment at high speed left Jenson Button and Fernando Alonso as sitting ducks while Honda itself being a year behind the likes of Mercedes, Ferrari and Renault accentuated matters further. What also didn’t help was McLaren’s insistence on a tightly-packaged car, dubbed ‘size zero’, that limited Honda’s development, while in turn the marque’s approach to the power unit also had fundamental restrictions. The token system, brought in to reduce costs and avoid engine development spiralling out of control, also worked against Honda. It was a humiliating campaign for all involved, with Alonso’s radio messages (the famous "GP2 engine" cry at Suzuka) and deckchair antics the most memorable moments, while the drivers used 12 power units as opposed to the regulated four, racking up penalty after penalty after penalty. McLaren finished a meagre ninth in the championship, ahead only of the cash-strapped Manor Marussia outfit.
More progress, but with limitations
McLaren-Honda began 2016 on a stronger footing and while there were still limitations, and excessive power unit usage, the team returned to something resembling midfield respectability under Yusuke Hasegawa, who replaced the under-pressure Yasuhisa Arai. McLaren regularly challenged for points and improved to sixth in the championship, though it strongest performance still came at venues where engine power was less of a trait. But Honda had already realised that its power unit concept had limited development scope, the smaller turbo unable to produce the sufficient energy that the formula demanded, while fewer restrictions on engine development in the regulations also helped. Changes were already afoot for the 2017 campaign.
The inevitable divorce
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Honda’s new power unit concept brought it more in line with Mercedes but its introduction was plagued by problems. On-track issues arose that did not initially show on the dyno, with the oil tank identified as a key cause for concern pre-season with the RA617H. The litany of issues prompted Fernando Alonso to declare the car as having “no power, no reliability”, while quipping the MCL32 was “30km/h” down on its opponents. The seeds for divorce had already been sewn. McLaren sought a quick fix in the form of a Mercedes or even Ferrari alliance but those doors were slammed shut. The partners stumbled through the first half of 2017 with discord as Honda adopted an aggressive development programme in order to convince McLaren to stay. It proved to be too little, too late, and eventually the parties announced in September that they would go their separate ways for 2018. McLaren linked with Renault while Honda sought refuge with Toro Rosso, giving it an olive branch to stay in the sport. McLaren, for the second time in three years, finished ninth in the Constructors’ Championship.
Solidarity with Toro Rosso
2018 for Honda was a much-needed campaign away from the intense spotlight and scrutiny of partnering a supposed big team. Its fourth place with Pierre Gasly just two races into the season highlighted the potential, while being able to effectively use Toro Rosso as a test bed improved its development. The Toro Rosso-Honda partnership was on a more equal footing, while McLaren’s struggles elsewhere also highlighted where the Woking-based team had gone wrong, indicating that the Japanese marque’s power plant was not as bad as initially thought. Honda also benefited from managerial changes, with Hasegawa departing and his role split into two, with Toyoharu Tanabe becoming responsible for trackside operations and Yasuaki Asaki heading up the project at its Sakura base. Honda still faced issues and setbacks and Toro Rosso only matched McLaren’s ninth place in the championship, but the progress was clear for everyone to see.
Fighting at the front
Red Bull, having seen the data from Honda at Toro Rosso, finally got rid of Renault and jumped into the Honda bed, joining its sister team. Would it work? The early evidence was encouraging, with the driveability of the Honda engine assisting Max Verstappen in being able to pass Sebastian Vettel in Australia to secure a podium first time out. Red Bull was also quick to repeatedly praise Honda for its development (2019 being the first season Honda had kept the same concept for three years) while accepting that its own chassis was not as strong or consistent as it anticipated. Verstappen challenged for a victory in Monaco but Honda had to wait just three more events to celebrate its first win since 2006, with Verstappen superb on Red Bull’s home soil in Austria.
Some stats…
Under the various ways in which Formula 1’s engine penalties have been applied and tweaked since 2015 it means Honda has taken 805 places worth of grid demotions, two drive-throughs, a 10-second stop/go and nine automatic ‘back of the grid’ starts across the 90 races that have taken place since the start of 2015. Nine different drivers have entered a grand prix for a Honda-powered team in that time while it has been with three teams: McLaren, Toro Rosso and Red Bull.
