Major design change of Toro Rosso car forced by Honda deal
Toro Rosso technical director James Key admits the team faces challenges adapting its 2018 car design to incorporate its new Honda power units after the deal was confirmed in Singapore.
After it was revealed the Toro Rosso-Honda negotiations only seriously began at the Italian Grand Prix two weeks ago, according to Honda general manager of its motorsport division Masashi Yamamoto, it appears hasty design revisions will be put in place by Toro Rosso to help integrate the Honda engine to its 2018 car.
Toro Rosso technical director James Key admits the team faces challenges adapting its 2018 car design to incorporate its new Honda power units after the deal was confirmed in Singapore.
After it was revealed the Toro Rosso-Honda negotiations only seriously began at the Italian Grand Prix two weeks ago, according to Honda general manager of its motorsport division Masashi Yamamoto, it appears hasty design revisions will be put in place by Toro Rosso to help integrate the Honda engine to its 2018 car.
Toro Rosso technical boss Key says the chassis and gearbox designs are already under review as it gets to grips with the Honda engine.
One major downfall of the McLaren-Honda partnership centred around a redesign of the Japanese manufacturer’s power unit which wasn’t incorporated in the McLaren MCL32 chassis design which led to the oil tank repeatedly breaking on the opening day of pre-season testing at Circuit de Catalunya last March.
Key is keen to avoid similar issues by making the design elements click smoothly and in order to maximise the engine performance.
“There are some challenges to face given the time of year but Toro Rosso has faced many difficult tasks with timing in the past and has the flexibility to deal with it,” Key said. “We will be working hard not to only re-design the PU installation but also ensure that this has minimal or no effect on the ongoing development work for 2018 – that is our current target.
“The architecture of the car will change in line with the PU requirements and our chassis and gearbox designs are currently under review to be adapted accordingly.
“Similarly we will be working closely with Honda on the performance aspects of the PU installation that the chassis will influence to ensure we maximise the potential of the package as a whole from the outset. We look forward to a strong, stable and proactive partnership with our colleagues at Honda.
“It will be a question of adaption of our plans rather than a wholesale change and we are in the process of re-planning our design and production activities in conjunction with Honda to ensure that we both hit all our important deadlines.”
Toro Rosso’s deal to take on Honda as a sole power unit supplier for the next three seasons was confirmed on Friday at the Singapore Grand Prix, at the same time it was announced McLaren would split from Honda to secure Renault engines from 2018.
