Honda Racing’s president Koji Watanabe has admitted that “not everything is going well” with the Japanese marque’s forthcoming return to Formula 1.
The automotive giants is making a full comeback to F1 in an exclusive power unit deal with Aston Martin, having pulled out at the end of 2021 after a successful stint with Red Bull.
Honda remained in a supporting role to the Milton Keynes-based squad’s continued use of its engines, but was explicitly involved in the sport like other OEMs.
But it has pivoted back to F1, and with that, links back up with former Red Bull technical director Adrian Newey, who has designed the AMR26, and will become Aston’s Team Principal.
The partnership promises, therefore, to be harmonious in most respects, but in an interview with Japanese publication Sportiva, Watanabe revealed that work on the new V6 hybrid engine will continue until the moment the team arrives in Melbourne for Round 1.
“We are at the stage where specifications are being fixed for the pre-season tests, and assembly is about to commence [as of the first week of December],” he said.
“However, homologation is at the end of February, so I expect development will continue right up to the very last minute.”
‘We still need more time’: Watanabe unsure of Honda progress compared to F1 rivals
Watanabe admitted it is currently unclear how close Honda is to other OEMs that will power cars on the grid this year, as well as the “mixed bag” results it has currently produced in testing.
“Given the uncertainty surrounding rival manufacturers’ progress, it remains a battle to see how close we can get to our own self-imposed targets. Frankly, we still need more time,” he said.
“We’re advancing development by incrementally assessing performance gains from integrating various components. Some prove successful, others fail unexpectedly – it’s a mixed bag.”
When pushed on a rough idea of where Honda currently is, Watanabe said: “To be honest, not everything is going well, so there are many areas where we are struggling, but nothing fatal has happened that we cannot overcome.
“In this situation, we are quietly concentrating on improving performance and reliability.
“Aston Martin also wants to keep building cars that reflect Adrian’s vision, so I think the next step for us on the power unit side is to figure out how to adapt to that.
“If doing so increases our competitiveness and makes us more likely to win, then we’ll do whatever it takes!”
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