Hopes that Honda will bring a major engine update to Canada are fading as Yusuke Hasegawa admits there’s still a lot to be done before the introduction.
The Honda chief told Autosport it will be tight to bring all the elements together before the race next weekend. He won’t know for sure if the update will be introduced until the Thursday before the race.
“I don’t give up and we are trying very hard, but until Thursday, I can’t decide,” he said.
“Already, we have had some performance, but if it is very small, it’s not worth changing engine for the next one.”
If either McLaren driver does change their engine, he will receive a 10 place grid penalty. Both have already changed a number of engine components.
With Honda so far behind the other manufacturers, though, it would be worth it if there is a significant improvement. The manufacturer doesn’t know if there will be any improvement, though, as it hasn’t even started working on some elements.
“We haven’t started working on the settings,” Hasegawa said.
“If we are not confident enough to set up that specification, it will cause some drivability issues, so the settings are also important.
“We have some other elements in development, we can introduce it if we can set up and if we can check the reliability.
“Everything is not ready. But we have some factors [that are].”
So far, Honda has only tweaked the engine maps. This update focuses on the internal combustion engine, so McLaren should see a big difference when it comes in.
