Yamamoto: Honda 'better than Renault'
Renault now has the least impressive power unit in Formula 1.
That is not the view of field leaders Mercedes and Ferrari, but of Honda's F1 chief Masashi Yamamoto.
"With the help of Red Bull and Toro Rosso, we are in better shape than Renault at the moment," the Japanese told Speed Week.
"But I do not think we are far ahead of them."
But Honda wants to change that, with the next upgrade set to hit the track in the summer.
"We have to work hard to increase power while maintaining reliability at a high level," said Yamamoto.
"That requires a lot of development work, but without that it is difficult to catch up."
He said Honda is being "careful" with its development budget, without giving up its ambition to finally win again.
"For Honda, the goal is always to win," he said.
"So far we have focused on balancing horse power and reliability, and I think we definitely need more horse power now," added Yamamoto.
"So we need to keep our heads down and improve."
3 F1 Fan comments on “Yamamoto: Honda 'better than Renault'”
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It'll only be as good if it wins 4 GP's like the Renault engine in the Red Bull did last year. Other than that it's going to score roughly as many points, and, that's with a rubbish Ferrari making it look better than really is.
In fairness to Honda I think he does have a point. Problem for RBR is that their car isn't as strong as it normally is in low speed turns where it used to be the class of the field. Now I'm not saying it's pants but at the present I'd be surprised if Mercedes didn't get pole in Monaco.
And, I think the rest of the World thinks the same.