Hasegewa: Next year we expect to be equal to Mercedes in horsepower

Honda F1 boss Yusuke Hasegewa is bullish about the future as he predicts that next season the Japanese power unit, developed during his watch, will match Mercedes for horsepower and his views are backed by McLaren team chief Eric Boullier and their star driver Fernando Alonso.

Hasegewa told F1 Racing, “Next year we expect to be equal to Mercedes in horsepower. That is the first target, even though on the size or weight or centre of gravity, or especially the reliability, it is difficult to achieve the same level.”

Honda, whose power unit currently houses the turbine and the compressor, want to mimic the Mercedes layout next year of the compressor situated at the front and the turbine at the rear of the engine, thus allowing for a bigger turbo.

But Hasegawa is aware of the challenges, “It’s hard to realise. That is why Ferrari and Renault don’t create it. That is why I can’t tell if we can realise it.”

Indeed McLaren have improved since last year but are still off the top three teams, and entrenched in the mid-pack battles.

But Boullier is clearly singing from the same hymn sheet as Hasegewa when he told F1 Racing magazine, “We are more ready than ever to win.”

“We had to decide on a concept that we believed would be a winning one and develop it over the years, not just months. That is what Red Bull have been doing for seven years, Mercedes for five years.”

“When you take an average of all the races, we are fighting with Ferrari in terms of chassis. Red Bull and Mercedes are better than us, but we are the best of the rest.”

The British squad is experiencing the worst run in their illustrious history. They are second on the all time winners list, yet they have not one a grand prix since 2012.”

The optimism is shared by Alonso, who is adamant that world titles are the goal, and wrote on Twitter, “I want to be 2017 Formula 1 world champion.”

“We are going in the right direction. In future when it comes to competitiveness in the F1 world championship, you have to be driving for Mercedes or McLaren. That’s my opinion, my feeling,” said Alonso recently.

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