Honda encouraged by first F1 test without any issues

Honda says that the first week of F1 testing was a huge positive. The Japanese manufacturer will supply both Toro Rosso and Red Bull with power units this season and neither team had any issues throughout week one.

After a difficult return to F1 with McLaren in 2015, Honda says they are "encouraged" by the amount of issue-free running they were able to complete in Barcelona.

Not only did they complete the first week of testing without a fault, but Honda has also registered the highest mileage, ahead of both Ferrari and reigning champions Mercedes power units in terms of laps completed.

Honda F1 technical director Toyoharu Tanabe explained the test had been a huge success for both the teams Honda is supplying for 2019 and added he was very pleased with the high mileage achieved.

“For this first four-day pre-season test, working with both Red Bull Toro Rosso Honda and Aston Martin Red Bull Racing Honda, it was encouraging that we got through all our planned programme with both teams. 

“As for today, everything went smoothly and we acquired a good amount of data. It’s the first time in the hybrid era that we are powering two teams and at this test, we learned a lot in terms of how to operate with them both. 

“There were no major issues with the power units throughout this test. Toro Rosso has completed 482 laps over the four days and Red Bull did 475, meaning that Honda PUs ran a total of 957 laps. 

“We will now spend the next few days analysing all the data we have acquired here, in order to move forward with development in the final four days of testing next week prior to the first race in Australia.”