Honda’s New Formula 1 Engine Revealed
Honda’s new Formula 1 engine
Last year, Honda confirmed its intention to return to Formula One racing after a six year absence, announcing that it would be resuming its once-dominant partnership with McLaren as an engine supplier. Today, the Japanese carmaker released the first image of the power unit that is being developed for the FIA Formula One World Championship.
The release comes just days before this weekend’s Japanese Grand Prix in Suzuka, where Honda will premiere video and audio of its new V6 turbo. While McLaren has stated that its cars might end up running with Honda engines before next year’s pre-season testing begins, no specific date has been revealed. Also, no driver line-up has been announced yet for McLaren.
Rubens Barrichello driving for Honda at the Brazilian Grand Prix in 2006
“Working toward Honda’s F1 participation starting in the 2015 season, development of the power unit is entering its prime phase at our R&D facility in Sakura [Tochigi, Japan], where we transferred our automobile motor sports development earlier this year,” said Yasuhisa Arai, the Senior Managing Officer of Honda R&D.
“In addition to conducting simulations, we have moved onto the next stage where we conduct full-fledged bench tests of the engine while connecting the turbocharger and energy recovery systems,” added Arai, who is heading the F1 project. “In the meantime, our racing operation base in Milton Keynes, United Kingdom, has become fully operational. At this time, we are unveiling an image of our power unit that is under development. The whole team is concentrating on this development, getting ready for the forthcoming start of F1 participation in 6 months.”
At the time, there aren’t many specs attached to the engine, but we will keep you posted on any further updates for Honda’s new Formula 1 engine.
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