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During the weekend I was able to watch NHK documentary about Honda's first win in hybrid era. It's almost two hours long and there is a lot of great stories...
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Sorry, this might be a stupid question: Could you please tell me where I can find this documentary?
Summary points for some who haven't watched the NHK Documentary or couldn't make sense of the translations:
Yoichiro Fukao (the tall engineer sitting on the first row far left in the Honda command center and also the one giving Helmet Marko the tour of the PU facility), and Asaki on Verstappen’s start to Austria: “At that very moment, I thought it’s over. To go from front row to 7th, honestly thought it was over.”
A section of the youtube upload is missing Tanabe's recalling of a conversation with Fukao after confirming the power loss was due to a sensor issue triggering safe mode, where after, Fukao said the PU was in good shape and can be pushed more. Tanabe then tells Fukao “Let’s go full power”. Fukao gives the go ahead and replies “Indeed, lets go for it.”
Naomi Warashina (He is the gray haired man, reddit commenter thinks he is a she), one of the most brilliant engineers at Honda Jet, was receptive to helping Honda F1. He said if their know-how is applicable to F1 technology, then he insisted they be used to help. When he saw the MGU-H he immediately asked "Does this actually turn?". And then Honda F1 said "Yes, but it breaks during the race". In which he replied, "Ofcourse". He immediately recognized the issue with the shaft and bearing and increased the number of bearing in conjunction with a shaft that had varying thickness with rigid bearings and loose bearings at the varying thickness. The reason he was able to identify the issue was because of the mechanics behind the MGU-H were very similar to the turbo-fan. If I'm not mistaken, Warashina joined Honda intending to work on cars but was soon assigned to Honda Jet (20+ years ago) because of his brilliance. So it's not a surprise that he was willing to help Honda F1. The turbine and blade design upgrade was used in France but it's settings and parameters were sub-optimal and miscalculated due to unexpected hot weather. But France was the turning point in which they realized the cooling issue and worked to have it solved by Austria.
Nobuo Suzuki from Tochigi recalls his department’s first reaction, “Why do we have to be involved in F1? And there was some small resistance to get involved because they were responsible for passenger cars.
He convinced his team that contributing to F1 would increase the technological know-how of Honda manufacturing as a whole.
Tetsushi Kakuda comments on how Honda finally caught up to the other PU manufacturers in being able to CNC machine parts for greater durability and quality. It raised the technological know-how of the entire engine department.
Masayoshi Takahashi - focused on fuel efficiency while burning the fuel faster. He changed the shape of the combustion.
Kotaro Hashimoto - responsible for introducing new ingredient formulations for faster burning fuel. While it is separate from passenger cars, it brought pride and satisfaction knowing that they can help contribute to Honda’s F1 success.
After the Australia 2018 race where Gasly's PU failed, Asaki realized that there was a crisis and that Sakura wouldn't be able to solve the issue alone. He acknowledged that neither the engine nor chassis could be developed if the shaft and bearing repeated broke under load. It's not clear exactly when Honda Jet's initial bearing/shaft fix was implemented but the first race it was used in was Bahrain 2018 when Gasly finished 4th. That would have really only given them 9 days between Rd1 and Rd2. I presume it was a quick fix that charted the path of development from there onward.
Asaki was very careful about asking others to help knowing that they had their own line of work and could not really spare extra time or resources to F1. To that end, he would go personally talk to key individuals,
Invite them to afterwork drinking-parties, and would convey his heartfelt feelings that he needed their help. He believed that it was his job to create the relationships and bridge to the other departments. He wanted to do it with all Honda.
Asaki wanted to pass on the qualities that Honda Soichiro instilled to not copy others and do it their own way. His feelings resonate with Honda Soichiro’s and they will never accept copying someone else and being 2nd, rather they want to be #1 with their own technology. The other departments became involved after Australia 2018 when Gasly had his PU failure.
Toward the beginning of the documentary, Asaki mentions the podium finish at Australia Rd1 had special significance to Honda engineers. It gave them confidence and motivation to push for the rest of the season.
At the beginning of the Austria race weekend, Red Bull Honda was fairly bullish that victory was attainable, such that Yamamoto instructed Suzuki to tell Hachigo to prepare a statement of the win just in case.
(Nobuo) Suzuki was a bit dumbfounded and responded “But it’s still only Friday…”
Gotta love the Youtube translation of Helmut Marko = Hell Palace and Marco
Asaki wanted to pass on the qualities that Honda Soichiro instilled to not copy others and do it their own way.
It's interesting that Honda are sticking to their Guns and doing things the Honda way these is at odd with statements we have heard from the likes on Ted that the got " outside help" implying that their success have bee bought therefore should not be attributed to Honda. Their biggest gripes with pu was the mguh so if the solution was home-brewed then good for them they deserve their success.
From Autosport, an interview of F1Racing, Alonso make clear his regret of the GP2 engine comment in the Japanese Grand Prix, is this a way of expressing his apologies to Honda looking to have a future at Indy or F1 with them?:
".......In the same interview, Alonso also expressed regret for describing Honda's first attempt at a V6 turbo power unit as a "GP2 engine" at the 2015 Japanese Grand Prix.
"It came from a place of frustration and maybe I should not say that, but I didn't say it in the TV pen or the press conference," he said.
"I was talking to my engineer in a private conversation [which was broadcast]. It was not meant to be public.
"But the engine was very bad. The first year in Jerez, in four days we did seven laps.
"Now Honda wins a race and I receive a lot of messages that read: 'GP2 engine wins now, it should be a sad day for you.'
"I'm very happy, but the engine I had in the car was not the same as the one winning in Brazil."
From Autosport, an interview of F1Racing, Alonso make clear his regret of the GP2 engine comment in the Japanese Grand Prix, is this a way of expressing his apologies to Honda looking to have a future at Indy or F1 with them?:
".......In the same interview, Alonso also expressed regret for describing Honda's first attempt at a V6 turbo power unit as a "GP2 engine" at the 2015 Japanese Grand Prix.
"It came from a place of frustration and maybe I should not say that, but I didn't say it in the TV pen or the press conference," he said.
"I was talking to my engineer in a private conversation [which was broadcast]. It was not meant to be public.
"But the engine was very bad. The first year in Jerez, in four days we did seven laps.
"Now Honda wins a race and I receive a lot of messages that read: 'GP2 engine wins now, it should be a sad day for you.'
"I'm very happy, but the engine I had in the car was not the same as the one winning in Brazil."
Alonso looks still could not get what McLaren also got now that is that McLaren car could not win with 2019 years ferrari engine
To be fair to Alonso, he did indeed got a terrible engine and car that year, and no current or future success is going to change anything about that. What I don't buy is his "private conversation" talk, that's a bit naive.
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