Honda R&D Co. Ltd Head of F1 Project and Executive Chief Engineer, Yusuke Hasegawa, was ultimately hugely optimistic about the performance of both McLaren Honda Formula 1 Team drivers at today’s Hungarian Grand Prix.
Although throughout the season, the team’s struggles have been largely attributed to the power deficiency and reliability issues of the Honda engine, the Hungaroring demands very little power relative to other circuits, and thus McLaren were able to get both cars into the points.
“Today was a good day at the office for the McLaren Honda team,” commented Hasegawa. “A double-points finish is definitely a positive step forward for us.”
“After yesterday’s encouraging result in qualifying, we knew we had a package capable of scoring some points. Both Fernando and Stoffel drove brilliantly, keeping their concentration in hot and tough conditions, and pushed throughout to bring home nine precious points.”
Hasegawa praised the team, who have worked tirelessly to try and improve the car, after what has been a shocking first half of the season.
“Today’s result is the sum of a lot of hard work and daily efforts made by the team members, and I want to thank them all for this.
“Although we are now able to head into the summer break with good momentum, we are not satisfied with the overall results of the first half of the season. We will continue to push our development for improvement, and hope to have a good start of the second half in Spa- Francorchamps.“
