This morning Honda has released the first image of its 2015 power unit ahead of this weekend’s Japanese Grand Prix.
Honda will return to F1 as a power unit supplier for McLaren next year and this weekend in Suzuka will show off video and audio of its new V6 turbo for the first time. McLaren has said it is its cars might run with Honda engines before pre-season testing next year, but a date has not yet been set.
In an statement to the media today, Senior Managing Officer of Honda R&D, Yasuhisa Arai said the following:-
‘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. 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.
‘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. Please stay tuned for further updates.’
It would seem that Honda are making the progress they wanted with their power unit for 2015 and the fact that are conducting simulations with the power unit, shows just how much progress they have made and also how much work they still have left to do too. But it would seem that Honda are making steps in the right direction, even if there is still a lot of work to do.
But even though the Honda website gives little detail about the new power unit, there are diagrams explaining how the current generation of hybrid engines work shows a conventional layout of the turbocharger in line with Renault and unlike Mercedes’ successful split turbine and compressor.
However, an actual photo of the engine has not been released so the secrets of the Honda power unit are likely to remain just that until the start of next season. And many pundits, fans and teams will be looking to see what the Honda power unit will look like and ultimately how it performs on the track, which is the most important thing and what many people will be judging the power unit on at the end of the day.
