Honda hoping to take another step forward at Canada

The Honda Racing F1 Team heads to the lively city of Montreal this week for the Canadian Grand Prix, the first of the two North American races, with the United States Grand Prix at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway following just one week later.

Honda Canada is once again a major sponsor of the Canadian Grand Prix and will have a significant presence over the race weekend with activities at Crescent Street in downtown Montreal and at Honda World, a spectacular circuit-based exhibition designed to bring race fans closer to Honda's innovations in the environment, safety and technology.

The race itself is run on a temporary circuit situated on Île Notre-Dame which is a man-made island in the middle of the St Lawrence Seaway, close to the city centre. Set among lakes and parkland pavilions used in the 1967 Expo, and alongside the 1976 Olympic Games rowing basin, this unusual track has frequently been the scene of high drama.

Shuhei Nakamoto, Senior Technical Director, is hoping the race will see the Honda Racing F1 Team take another step forwards.

"We are pleased that the RA107 is continuing to show positive signs as a result of all the team's hard work,” he said. “At the last race in Monaco, the drivers were able to appreciate the improvements and take the most performance possible out of the car.

“However, Canada is a completely different challenge and downforce levels are very different, so we have to set the car up to suit the specific demands of this track,” continued Nakamoto. “At the Paul Ricard test, we found a good set-up on the Montreal configured circuit, which we hope will translate well to the race weekend. We are continuing to develop the car, not only in terms of new aero parts but also mechanical improvements. Although we have not had the opportunity to test since Monaco, we will keep pushing as hard as possible for the North American races."