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Honda to use all remaining tokens for Belgium

Published on 23 May 2016 13:36
11
By: Rob Veenstra

Honda is planning to hand in all of its engine performance 'tokens' by Spa-Francorchamps in August. That is the claim of Germany's Auto Motor und Sport, citing the information of an unnamed engineer. "By then we will be able to feed in more electrical power," the engineer is quoted as saying.

The first step in the McLaren works partner's two-step in-season upgrade plan will be in Canada, the report added. Fernando Alonso is hoping Monaco this weekend will be another milestone for the Anglo-Japanese collaboration, after he powered into Q3 for the first time in Spain. "In theory Monaco is the best circuit for us all year," the Spaniard told the Spanish broadcaster Movistar whilst attending the MotoGP round at Mugello at the weekend.

Then for 2017, it is reported that Honda will unveil a totally redesigned power unit concept, with the turbo no longer located inside the 'V'. Stoffel Vandoorne, the team's current reserve, hopes he has been drafted into the race lineup by then.

"For me, I hope the decision comes as soon as possible, I guess that's better for everyone," the Belgian is quoted by Italy's Tuttosport. "I'm pushing it and hope to be racing next year, it's definitely my goal," Vandoorne added. "The number 1 priority is to be with McLaren." (GMM)

F1 News Fernando Alonso Stoffel Vandoorne McLaren Honda

Replies (11)

calle.itw

Posts: 8,527
ALL the remaining tokens? Thats quite a sum of tokens to spend in one go. Might get interesting.
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- May 23 2016 - 16:02
- amateurexpert
  
  Posts: 3
  The headline has been worded poorly - instead of "for" they should have said "by"; this latter meaning is clearer in the original AMuS story. Hasegawa has been quoted as expressing a wish to apply as many upgrades as possible in one go, but that's about optimising token spend; most people seem to expect token spend to be split between two major upgrades.
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  May 23 2016 - 17:28
- calle.itw
  
  Posts: 8,527
  Not necessarily, but english isnt my primary language, so I dont know for sure. :)
  Im not sure its a good idea to apply this many tokens in one go, but I can imagine they intend to overhaul the MGU, and maaaybe do some work on the combustion engine itself. I dont see them spending anything on the turbos, since Honda will redesign that area completely for the next season, but I guess they could maybe put a token or two into that area aswell.
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  May 23 2016 - 17:34
amateurexpert

Posts: 3
For 2017, *there is speculation* that Honda will unveil a totally redesigned power unit concept, with the turbo no longer located inside the 'V'.

Have Honda & McLaren really already decided and announced a new car & engine architecture for 2017?
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- May 23 2016 - 17:31
- calle.itw
  
  Posts: 8,527
  Yes, the concepts are confirmed, but we have really not seen the designs yes, so we cannot know every bit for sure. ;)
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  May 24 2016 - 01:23
khasmir

Posts: 893
"By then we will be able to feed in more electrical power"
That really doesn't say much, you can make all kinds of crazy assumptions based on this.
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- May 23 2016 - 18:54
mclarenfan1968

Posts: 1,027
Going all in bruh, go big or go home.
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- May 24 2016 - 03:32
Vet5

Posts: 225
Though you have to understand it from their perspective, they don't want to use some tokens here and there, they want to basically re-create the engine that's being used, and if they have done enough data running on the new engine in the factory then the next step is to just run it in the car, they have nothing to lose and the engine they are currently using is still pretty much unreliable. If I were Honda, I would take the risk and use all tokens on the engine, but SPa wouldn't be the ideal circuit, engine would be under too much stress due to the high speed straight eau rouge.
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- May 24 2016 - 09:46
- mclarenfan1968
  
  Posts: 1,027
  Engine is not their only weakness, the chassis is no good either, Eric talks a lot of bull when it comes to the chassis. Just wait and watch, Monaco will be no different. There are huge egos at Mclaren who aren't ready share the blame for their dismal performance in the aero and chassis debt so far. Unlike other fans I wont hide the fact that the Japanese are being exploited for their silence.
  
  Here is what I will say that most at Mclaren or their fans don't have the balls to say. Ron Dennis isn't ready to let Honda supply another team their engines not because Honda would lose focus on the works team, it is simply because he is under pressure to protect Mclaren's "superior engineering" work force's image, giving the engine to someone else would prove how much of a turd the Mclaren car minus the engine is. It is a total PoS. Period. Until they improve and become strong enough to mask their terrible two seasons so far Ron isn't ready to let Honda supply someone else.
  
  Logically having another customer speeds up the learning and data collection Honda needs to perfect their strengths and improve upon their weaknesses.
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  May 24 2016 - 10:24
Barron

Posts: 625
Total POS? Really? Already better than Manor, Sauber, Renault & TR and now almost running with the Williams.. Just one more heave chaps. It is also likely that the ultimate chassis tweaks will not be possible until they have enough motive grunt. This seems to be happening now so I wouldn't write them off completely although their progress has been embarrassingly slow.. McLarens F1 issues always seem to begin when they commence their road car manufacturing. It happened with the original F1 road car and has happened again in their new road car era. It's almost as if they just can't multi-task even though the manufacturing divisions are supposed to be completely separate, so one wonders..
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- May 24 2016 - 12:14
- Barron
  
  Posts: 625
  Forgot Haas. Better or as least as good as Haas now too... And that is a Ferrari chassis with a Ferrari PU.
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  May 24 2016 - 12:16