Aston Martin: the real disaster
This year’s world championship started in the worst possible way for Aston Martin, and the situation has not improved at all as the events have passed. Despite the large pre-season investments and the arrival of Adrian Newey to the team, as well as the presence of two-time world champion Fernando Alonso, the team has only scored one point thanks to the Spaniard’s 10th place in Monaco. A failure, so far, both for the Silverstone-based team and for Honda, which supplies its power unit.
The date to circle on the calendar
Yet, the plans of the Japanese manufacturer and the British team seem aimed at making progress starting this summer, particularly from two specific weekends: Aston Martin is indeed working on important aerodynamic upgrades for the Hungarian Grand Prix, while Honda seems determined to complete significant progress for the Dutch Grand Prix, scheduled for August 23.
The real confirmation
More than a rumor, it is a confirmation from Shintaro Orihara, Head of Honda Engineers: “Our goal is to arrive at the Dutch Grand Prix in Zandvoort – he said referring to the upgrade in an interview with Mundo Deportivo – I expected this question. Yes, I kept saying ‘in summer,’ an answer that might seem trivial. So I would say our focus is on the Netherlands. That’s why we are working hard to complete our to-do list and bring the new power unit to the Netherlands. This is our goal“.
Read more Verstappen, the champion who praises Antonelli: “He is a great talent, I expected it”
“We are focusing exclusively on the internal part – he continued going into more detail about the operations – let’s say our main goal is to improve engine performance. So we are working on the shape of the combustion chamber. We have also modified the pre-chamber. Furthermore, we will change the shape of the combustion chamber to improve combustion efficiency. We are also working to reduce friction by modifying the lubrication system. This is what we are working on. And, of course, also to improve reliability, because if we increase performance, we have to increase reliability. So we still have a long to-do list. But we are working hard to bring everything to the Netherlands. How many tokens will we use? I can’t say. We have a long list. So we will bring many upgrades to the Netherlands. I can’t say exactly how many, but we will modify some rather important parts. Our goal is to make a big step forward, rather than proceed in small steps“.
Read more Verstappen, the champion who praises Antonelli: “He is a great talent, I expected it”
