Honda says its F1 progress hidden in 'very frustrating' Spanish GP
Honda believes a "very frustrating" Spanish Grand Prix masked the progress it made with Toro Rosso after two troubled Formula 1 race weekends
Toro Rosso's form dipped significantly in China and Azerbaijan after Pierre Gasly scored the best result of Honda's return to F1 with fourth in Bahrain.
In Spain Gasly made it into Q2 for the first time since Bahrain but was wiped out on the opening lap, while team-mate Brendon Hartley recovered to 12th from a back-of-the-grid start after a complete car rebuild following his Saturday practice crash.
Honda's technical director Toyoharu Tanabe told Autosport his firm had been helped by an analysis of its energy management after weaker races at two tracks with very long straights.
Tanabe said: "We learned from the start to the end, and also applied our analysis from the previous race.
"I think, technically, we had a reasonably competent weekend. The actual race result was very frustrating.
"It is difficult to measure [the improvement from the last race] because of the different track, if we go back to Baku and try it different we can tell you exactly in lap time and speed!
"We learned better energy management from Baku and applied several calibrations to maintain the race situation, so it looks OK."
Tanabe acknowledged Honda could only prove its progress with "a time or position, which is important for us" but the weekend boosted confidence that the company is back on the right path.
Toro Rosso's Friday form was not strong in Spain and both drivers complained about the balance of the car, before changes applied from second practice to Saturday morning boosted its competitiveness considerably.
"Initially we applied something from the previous investigation," Tanabe explained.
"Friday was not good, so we applied something different from what we learned, and we improved.
"It means we could understand directionally we are OK."
Why Ferrari F1 team's halo mirror winglet has been 'banned' by FIA
F1 video: Was Romain Grosjean's Spanish GP penalty harsh enough?
Norris had to adjust to 2022 McLaren F1 car that was "very unsuited for me"
Lando Norris believes he has done a “reasonable job” adjusting to the 2022 McLaren Formula 1 car that is “very unsuited” to his driving style.
Top 10 Arrows F1 drivers ranked: Hill, Warwick, Fittipaldi and more
No Formula 1 team has started more races without winning one than Arrows, although it came close on several occasions. Twenty years on from the team's demise, Autosport takes on the task of ranking its best drivers
How Storm Eunice delayed Mercedes' F1 porpoising alarm
Mercedes only got a full grasp of how severe its porpoising issues were in Formula 1 pre-season testing after Storm Eunice impacted its first 2022 car shakedown at Silverstone.
When Indycar conquered F1 - Monzanapolis
Imagine a race between the best of Formula 1 and Indycar drivers.
The under-fire F1 driver fighting for his future
Personable, articulate and devoid of the usual racing driver airs and graces, Nicholas Latifi is the last Formula 1 driver you’d expect to receive death threats, but such was the toxic legacy of his part in last year’s explosive season finale. And now, as ALEX KALINAUCKAS explains, he faces a battle to keep his place on the F1 grid…
The strange tyre travails faced by F1’s past heroes
Modern grand prix drivers like to think the tyres they work with are unusually difficult and temperamental. But, says MAURICE HAMILTON, their predecessors faced many of the same challenges – and some even stranger…
The returning fan car revolution that could suit F1
Gordon Murray's Brabham BT46B 'fan car' was Formula 1 engineering at perhaps its most outlandish. Now fan technology has been successfully utilised on the McMurtry Speirling at the Goodwood Festival of Speed, could it be adopted by grand prix racing once again?
Hamilton's first experience of turning silver into gold
The seven-time Formula 1 world champion has been lumbered with a duff car before the 2022 Mercedes. Back in 2009, McLaren’s alchemists transformed the disastrous MP4-24 into a winning car with Lewis Hamilton at the wheel. And now it’s happening again at his current team, but can the rate of progress be matched this year?
Why few could blame Leclerc for following the example of Hamilton’s exit bombshell
OPINION: Ferrari's numerous strategy blunders, as well as some of his own mistakes, have cost Charles Leclerc dearly in the 2022 Formula 1 title battle in the first half of the season. Though he is locked into a deal with Ferrari, few could blame Leclerc if he ultimately wanted to look elsewhere - just as Lewis Hamilton did with McLaren 10 years prior
The other McLaren exile hoping to follow Perez's path to a top F1 seat
After being ditched by McLaren earlier in his F1 career Sergio Perez fought his way back into a seat with a leading team. BEN EDWARDS thinks the same could be happening to another member of the current grid
How studying Schumacher helped make Coulthard a McLaren F1 mainstay
Winner of 13 grands prix including Monaco and survivor of a life-changing plane crash, David Coulthard could be forgiven for having eased into a quiet retirement – but, as MARK GALLAGHER explains, in fact he’s busier than ever, running an award-winning media company and championing diversity in motor racing. Not bad for someone who, by his own admission, wasn’t quite the fastest driver of his generation…
Could F1 move to a future beyond carbonfibre?
Formula 1 has ambitious goals for improving its carbon footprint, but could this include banishing its favoured composite material? PAT SYMONDS considers the alternatives to carbonfibre and what use, if any, those materials have in a Formula 1 setting