Source:REUTERS/Maxim Shemetov
[Saba Sports News] As the Japanese Grand Prix approaches, Honda has given a cautious assessment of the current situation. Shintaro Orihara, the team’s head of track engineering, said that although some progress was made at the China Grand Prix, overall performance still falls noticeably short of expectations. The partnership between Aston Martin and Honda is under considerable pressure. The car is not only lacking in speed but also suffering from vibration issues that affect system stability and even the drivers’ experience. The two parties are continuing to investigate and make adjustments to determine the root cause. Orihara revealed that during the China Grand Prix the team improved battery reliability by reducing vibration, but the problem has not been fully solved and they are still looking for the fundamental source of the vibrations. Nevertheless, Honda hopes to gain extra momentum from a home-track atmosphere at Suzuka and, even if current results are unsatisfactory, aims to show incremental progress.
The editor believes that it is unrealistic to expect Aston Martin to completely reverse the situation in a short time. For Aston Martin and Honda, the Suzuka weekend will be more of a staged test — optimizing the existing package as much as possible and narrowing the gap to the leading group while the issues remain unresolved.