Former Head of Honda's Formula 1 operation, Yusuke Hasegawa has revealed a batch of engines will be maintained to the specification which ended the 2017 season for this year in case of further problems.
The Japanese manufacturer made significant progress with their troubled power unit in the second half of last year which enabled former partner McLaren to have one car in the points at five of the last seven races. However, despite regular upgrades, they would fail to fully implement the 'Spec 4' unit the had looked to introduce since the Belgian Grand Prix at the end of August.
For 2018, Honda has a renewed optimism thanks to a new collaboration with Toro Rosso and Hasegawa remains positive that the worst is behind them.
“I’m sure we can start the season well next year,” he told Autosport. “We modified the engine concept from last year (2016) to this year (2017) and we are thinking it was the right direction.”
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In an effort to close the significant performance gap to their engine rivals, Honda sought help from external parties with even a tie-up with Mercedes hinted at but never coming to fruition.
"We can see results from that project," the ex-boss claimed, insisting those assisting would remain anonymous. “We will continue those collaborations – there’s no reason to stop – we even have to enhance the collaboration more.
“I understand most people think Honda has tried to do it by themselves but it’s not right. We’re happy to invite outside resource and we do.”
