Honda Trackside General Manager and Chief Engineer Shintaro Orihara has revealed it is waiting to witness how its V6 Hybrid engine “behaves” with the Aston Martin it is powering in this year’s Formula 1 season.
The Japanese marque is making a full-time return to F1 in an exclusive power unit arrangement with the Silverstone-based squad, which will be led this year by new Team Principal Adrian Newey.
Newey has, of course, also designed the AMR26, which turned heads upon turning out of the garage at last week’s behind-closed-doors test in Barcelona.
The car has been met with much intrigue and analysis since it broke cover, and its results are still very much uncertain, due to the radical overhaul of the technical regulations.
Power units and their reliability are one of the focal points of pre-season testing, and Honda will be determined to make their comeback a successful one, more so given its pre-existing relationship Newey from their respective days at Red Bull.
In an in-house Q&A, Orihara was asked for his feelings ahead of the two official pre-season testing schedules at the Bahrain International Circuit, the first of which commencing next week.
“It’s been a long time coming, quite frankly speaking,” he said. “Years of development and hard work culminates with this.
“Sakura, HRC UK and Aston Martin Aramco have been working tirelessly to develop, plan and build.
“The Barcelona Shakedown was a pivotal moment in our relationship and a good step in the right direction.
“Our next target is to accumulate mileage with our power unit to confirm engine reliability and to check all functions.
“We’re looking forward to seeing how the package behaves – car and power unit – as one machine.”
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