Honda's Tanabe: 'Max is special'
Published on 01 July 2020 by Stefan Meens
Honda Racing F1’s Technical Director. Toyoharu Tanabe reflects on the last few months and previews the 2020 Formula 1 season.
Have you communicated a lot with Aston Martin Red Bull Racing and Alpha Tauri?
“Yes. We also had a shutdown so we couldn’t develop and communicate with the teams. However, after the shutdown we restarted our work for the new season.”
How would you reflect on 2019 from a Honda perspective?
“2019 was a lot better than I expected. We took wins and we were on the podium with both our teams at the same time. It was a fantastic season.”
What was it like being on the podium with Max last year in Austria?Hoe was het om in Oostenrijk 2019 samen met Max op het podium te staan?
“It is one of my best memories. We celebrated the win with the drivers, mechanics, engineers and team management. It was amazing.”
Do you analyse the driver's input to develop your power-units?
"The driver is one of the best sensors we have on the car. We don’t know what it’s like in traffic, qualifying or the race. The drivers know exactly what we need. It gives us important information to improve the performance of the power-unit.”
What is your take on Max?
“He is special, and he does more than we expect. He is very precise and is generally calm. But he can be very passionate. He is a nice guy.”
What’s Honda’s goal for this year?
“We hope to fight for the title and win as many races as we can.”
Are there any updates since the winter tests in Barcelona?
“We had a shutdown period so we had to stop developing so we couldn’t improve our power-unit that much. In essence, it’s the same power-unit as the one in Barcelona but we were able to improve a bit of reliability and performance.
What will be more important this year, reliability or performance?
“Both are important, especially if the season is short. Finding a balance is important. Once we know how many races there are, we can try to focus more on the performance as the season will be shorter.”
