Honda worried by performance gap with rivals - really?

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Honda F1 boss Yusuke Hasegawa admits to be troubled by the manufacturer's gap with its rivals on a relative performance level.

The notion seems hardly surprising given the dismal pre-season testing performance delivered by McLaren's partner.

Chronic reliability issues associated with Honda's new power unit dogged the Woking-based outfit's two-week development programme in Barcelona, limiting its mileage and generating huge frustrations within the team, from its management to its drivers.

According to Sky Sports David Croft, the issue could be related to unexpected vibrations causing the Honda power unit to shut itself down.

Curiously, Hasegawa appears to be more worried about the engine power gap with its rivals rather than by its reliability weakness.

"Of course we knew the performance level but we didn't know the level of the other teams, so from a comparison point of view we are a little bit scared of the situation and it's too optimistic for us to expect a very good result in Melbourne," the Honda boss told Racer.com.

"But from a trouble point of view, of course I didn't expect such a wide variety of problems that we suffered ...

"Everything that has happened has not been seen on the dyno, I believe. Especially the day two issue and this week's day one issue, we didn't expect such a problem."

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Whether he sought to minimise Honda's responsibility or underline the work accomplished by its rivals, Hasegawa defended the manufacturer's efforts.

"Of course we also improved our engine performance level; however, it looks like the PU performance improvement of the others is better and higher than us.

"We may even be further back, so that is very disappointing. From the settings or a setting point of view we may have some things we can do in these two weeks.

"In the next two weeks we will try to find some ways of tuning the engine, and it can have better performance, definitely."

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Phillip van Osten

Motor racing was a backdrop from the outset in Phillip van Osten's life. Born in Southern California, Phillip grew up with the sights and sounds of fast cars thanks to his father, Dick van Osten, an editor and writer for Auto Speed and Sport and Motor Trend. Phillip's passion for racing grew even more when his family moved to Europe and he became acquainted with the extraordinary world of Grand Prix racing. He was an early contributor to the monthly French F1i Magazine, often providing a historic or business perspective on Formula 1's affairs. In 2012, he co-authored along with fellow journalist Pierre Van Vliet the English-language adaptation of a limited edition book devoted to the great Belgian driver Jacky Ickx. He also authored "The American Legacy in Formula 1", a book which recounts the trials and tribulations of American drivers in Grand Prix racing. Phillip is also a commentator for Belgian broadcaster Be.TV for the US Indycar series.