The situation when Toyoharu Tanabe, the technical director of Honda F1, was developing the 2009 “Phantom Honda RA109” that won the title as “Brawn GP BGP001” at the end of the third term. He talked regarding the similarities in his relationship with Red Bull and Alpha Tauri.
In 2021, which became the last year of Honda F1, Red Bull’s Max Verstappen won the title by winning a fierce battle with Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton with Honda’s F1 engine. It was the first driver’s title for Honda’s F1 engine since Ayrton Senna (McLaren Honda) in 1991.
It was the first time in 30 years that Honda F1 became a member of the title-winning team, but it played a major role in the title-winning machine regarding 10 years ago.
Honda withdrew following completing the third F1 project at the end of 2008. Sold the team of Blackley, the mother of the current Mercedes F1, and the “Honda RA109” that was being developed for 2009 to Ross Brawn. The machine reborn as “Brawn GP BGP001” equipped with Mercedes F1 engine won both titles.
Toyoharu Tanabe says that the machine development in the third phase of the works team was similar to the way of working on the machines of Red Bull and Alpha Tauri.
“In 2007 and 2008, the chassis and engine sides worked very closely together to create the 2009 car,” Toyoharu Tanabe told The Race.
“In a way, I felt the same with Toro Rosso and Red Bull. We talked to each other regarding what we wanted to do and then walked up to make the best decision for the car’s performance.”
“We worked really closely with an open mind, and we were able to work very comfortably with a different experience than the’team and PU supplier’.”
Honda started supplying F1 engines to Toro Rosso (now Alpha Tauri) following three miserable F1 return seasons when McLaren fell to the back marker.
The relationship with the new partner soon improved, but Toyoharu Tanabe feels that he was able to start developing the F1 power unit only following solving the reliability problem.
“I spent a lot of time solving problems,” said Toyoharu Tanabe.
“It’s a negative development in a way, always trying to get something back, and I feel we were able to move into a positive development cycle in 2018/19. After achieving some credibility, We now have more time to improve performance than before. “
“It was a big change.”
Category: Category: F1 / Honda F1 / Red bull / Toro Rosso / Brawn GP / Alpha Tauri
