McLaren’s struggles during the Japanese Grand Prix weekend were unexpected, according to Honda's head of F1 project Yusuke Hasegawa.
Fresh from a number of competitive races - including scoring points in six of the previous eight rounds - McLaren was expecting another strong performance in Honda’s home race at Suzuka. Boosted by a Honda power unit update introduced at Malaysia on Fernando Alonso's car to avoid a penalty in Japan, expectations were to challenge for points, but McLaren was uncompetitive throughout the weekend as Jenson Button dropped out in Q1 and both drivers finished outside the top 15.
“We did not expect the race to be as difficult as it was in Suzuka, so I am very disappointed,” Hasegawa told F1i. “We still need to analyse the data, but the team belief is that our overall car and package was just not suited to the Suzuka circuit characteristics.”
And while Hasegawa references the extra pressure Honda feels at Suzuka, he says it needs to use the disappointment as motivation to bounce back in future.
“I think that home races are difficult for everyone due to the added pressure. We are all disappointed of course, but the support we receive outweighs the negative. From the team’s point of view, we just have to reflect on what happened at the race, analyse what caused it and move on so that we can do better in the next race and to next year’s Suzuka.”
Button eventually took a power unit penalty after qualifying so low on the grid, meaning he will have the latest specification power unit available to him in Austin.
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