Categories: F1 News, Reports and Race ResultsHonda

Alonso criticism an encouragement for Honda

Honda motorsport boss Yasuhisa Arai says the power unit manufacturer does not take Fernando Alonso’s criticism negatively.

McLaren chairman Ron Dennis was unhappy with Alonso’s comments during the Japanese Grand Prix, with Alonso having taken to team radio to complain the Honda was a “GP2 engine”. In Russia Alonso then claimed team radio messages should remain private to prevent such outbursts from being broadcast.

However, Arai told F1i he has no problem with such criticism, saying Alonso is a motivating figure for Honda.

“First of all, Fernando’s Suzuka’s comments were an encouragement for us,” Arai said, speaking via a translator. “So I don’t think badly about it, I don’t think negatively at all towards that. We just have to be better.”

And Arai says Alonso’s own performances on track give him the ability to make such comments.

“We cannot forget [in Sochi] he took the penalties and started 19th and finished 10th [before a post-race penalty], so that is just brilliant and I am happy to be able to work with him.”

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Andrew Lewin

Andrew first became a fan of Formula 1 during the time when Michael Schumacher and Damon Hill were stepping into the limelight after the era of Alain Prost, Nigel Mansell and Aryton Senna. He's been addicted ever since, and has been writing about the sport now for nearly a quarter of a century for a number of online news sites. He's also written professionally about GP2 (now Formula 2), GP3, IndyCar, World Rally Championship, MotoGP and NASCAR. In his other professional life, Andrew is a freelance writer, social media consultant, web developer/programmer, and digital specialist in the fields of accessibility, usability, IA, online communities and public sector procurement. He worked for many years in magazine production at Bauer Media, and for over a decade he was part of the digital media team at the UK government's communications department. Born and raised in Essex, Andrew currently lives and works in south-west London.