I didn't understand this from the beginning, was this for the handicappers or just regular F1 mish mosh?
Mclaren/Honda will not be in winning form until at least 2016. Honda just doesn't have the ability of Mercedes HPE so I'm not counting on Honda power to ever match Mercedes, but I believe Prodromou will help make a heck of a chassis by 2016 or so. Don't forget Honda's most recent attempt at F1.....
So the mighty Honda are the supreme masters at turbo technology are they? It's funny then that having had a whole year to develop their PU without any restrictions whatsoever (unlike Renault and Ferrari), based on their testing so far, instead of being a force to match Mercedes already, they appear to be in the exact same boat as Renault and Ferrari (in fact, reliability wise they appear to be worse off!). Face a bit of reality here: Honda are in as much trouble, if not more, than Renault and Ferrari! As for their previous turbo experience, as the old adage goes: "past performance is no guarantee of future success!"
I don't think McHonda are necessarily in as much trouble ore more than Renault or Ferrari last year. If you recall, Renault had their troubles at testing in Jerez/Valencia a few weeks before Australia. McHonda had their problems back in, what, late November, early December, at their "media shooting event". That's 3-4 months ahead of the season kickoff. Renault had cooling/packaging problems? I can't remember exactly what they were dealing with. McHonda got 4 laps in before they packed up. Doesn't sound like they had a catastrophic problem, they were able to bring in the car to the garage, albeit in limp mode. That to me sounds like ECU/software/communication problems, not mechanical problems. You're right about your last line though.
How is it not a mechanical problem? What is it? A strategic problem between team mates? From a road going comparo I don't think it's fair to compare forced induction applications between MB and Honda. From an engineering perspective, while merc has had their hand in on the TDI end for a very long time, it's a totally different animal. You have high rev small volume power units that have been a staple of Honda road cars. While merc may have deeper roots in stable forced induction - out of the box, application specific internals aside, honda has a very strong platform to be competitive come race time IMHO.
It was not mechanical because McLaren/Honda stated it was an electrical problem. And strategic problem between team mates? What are you talking about?? It was McLaren's 3rd and test/reserve driver, Stoffel Vandoorne, who did the testing on the MP4-29H. Not Button nor Magnussen.
A clarification of the "power unit" is in order. I think I got defensive when you jumped to the software/electronics not being instrumental in the mechanical functionality of the machine. My apologies. The sport has just gotten so, how do you say, plain. That's probably more of relating to the scoring structure though.
No worries. I think the "power unit" is all the components combined, is it not? Internal combustion engine, turbos, MGK-U, MGK-H, etc..
They needed to hire Brawn in order to make that happen But the opted for the Marlboro man so that their sponsorship would remain intact can't say I blame them - But let's be realistic their power plant is so behind that it would take a miracle to match Merc But I hope I'm very wrong and that your fantasy comes true instead
From what I read, yeah. It's all the forward compulsion elements on the car. Minimum weight requirement contraints. Though I can't imagine a reverse gear adding much. I shot off an email for further clarification a couple weeks ago but haven't heard anything back.
When has Ham ever had it easy....under estimate at your peril. Anyway I hope Honda give all the other PU's a run for their money, I still reckon they will sup the fuel better than the others though.
From, of course, Sniff..... I must admit to being a little surprised at how 'easily' Charlie seems to have backed off on this one..... It is what it is, but I can see the others being a little upset after having worked to 'different' rules (the freeze) for a year, which Honda are now avoiding..... Cheers, Ian Image Unavailable, Please Login
The thing is, Honda was being asked to comply with 2014 regulations in some instances, and in others they were being asked to comply to 2015 regulations. That also meant that every year they would be behind even more because they wouldn't be allotted the same amount of tokens because in this case, they would be asked to comply with current year regulations. So before this ruling came, Honda had to homologate by Feb 28 or whatever date it was, and then they wouldn't be able to make changes, while the other teams wouldn't have a set date to homologate and would be free to use their 32(?) tokens throughout the year as they deemed fit. Roll on 2015, they can all use whatever tokens they are allotted for the year, including Honda. Those 32 tokens all the other teams were able to use for 2014, yeah, Honda is screwed out of those. Not very fair IMNSHO.
You miss-read. If all 3 teams used their existing engines, Honda does not get locked out, its the opposite. The more tokens teams spend prior to the season, the less Honda gets to use. They will be put on an equal footing with the team average. If everyone wants to leave all their tokens for mid season development, Honda gets to play that game to. If all the teams want to use all their tokens to make changes ahead of the season starting, and lock themselves in at the beginning of 2015, that is what would put Honda in a lockout. Its a very fair ruling, if the other teams save tokens for mid season changes, its not fair to lock Honda out if Honda brings out something unique, and the other team's copy. Honda will be on a roughly equal footing of the average of what the other engine builders do.
If the power unit tokens are going to be treated anything like the aero requirements ala RedBull we're in for another joke.
Do you guys think teams will use all 32 tokens in the season? The way I'm reading it, it's use em or lose em. Next year they have another allotment of tokens, albeit fewer. And will Honda have to comply with this ruling every year? Allowed only to use an average amount of tokens that remain with the other teams?
The FIA thought it was use it or lose it, but a(the) team(s) found a loop hole and pushed. They also did it in a way that at first excluded Honda from changes. Honda pushed back, and got a system where Honda will be able to make similar amounts of in season changes as the other teams.
