Honda’s partnership with Red Bull Toro Rosso Honda began in very much the same way it ended with the McLaren F1 Team at the 2018 Australian Grand Prix. But Honda F1 Technical Director Toyoharu Tanabe ensures that his team will be working hard to find the cause of Pierre Gasly’s race-ending issue.
“It is disappointing that Pierre Gasly had to retire on lap 15 with an MGU-H problem,” said Tanabe.
“We now have to investigate the precise cause and then we have a few days of hard work to ensure we do not have a repeat of the problem at the next race.”
Honda and Toro Rosso did see one of their cars finish the season’s opening race, albeit Brendon Hartley finished the race last of the runners and one lap behind the leaders. Despite the team’s poor results in Australia, Tanabe remains positive that the team will perform better next time out.
“As for Brendon, after his early pit stop, because of a flat spotted tyre, he raced consistently, but with the difficulty of overtaking here he was unable to move up the order.
“It was a tough start to the season, however we have to move on from this and keep a positive frame of mind as we immediately start preparing for the second round of the championship.”
