It has been confirmed that Honda's motorsport boss, Yasuhisa Arai, will step down from his position at the end of the month as part of a revamp of Honda's Formula 1 department.
The Japanese manufacturer struggled on its debut season with partner McLaren, scoring just 27 points over the course of 19 races, whilst reliability was also a problematic area.
The power unit had several weaknesses which Honda has worked hard to address over the winter under Arai's leadership and, whilst things looked more positive on the opening day of pre-season testing – with Jenson Button completing more laps in a single day than McLaren managed across four days last year – Honda Motor Co., Ltd's board has voted to replace Arai.
He will leave his role at the end of the month, with his replacement Yusuke Hasegawa taking up the position on March 1.
Hasegawa will become executive chief engineer and head of F1 project at Honda, whilst former Honda India CEO Yoshiyuki Matsumoto, will take up the role of senior managing officer and director, supervising director of F1 project and president, chief executive officer and representative director.
Arai will take on the role of senior managing officer of the Honda R&D department before his retirement.
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