Formula 1
Honda reveals development secrets of 2021 F1 engine
Honda has given an unusually detailed insight into the development of its 2021 Formula 1 power unit, which scored its first victory in the hands of Max Verstappen at Imola.
Adam Cooper
Edited: Apr 23, 2021, 1:46 PM
Copy link
Share on Viber
Honda's 2021 engine, the so-called RA621H, is viewed by many in the F1 paddock as the strongest PU in the current field, with Pierre Gasly’s qualifying form for AlphaTauri backing up the pace of Red Bull Racing.
A major package of changes that was in the system had originally been postponed to 2022, but following the Japanese company’s decision to end its official involvement in the sport early it was decided to fast track the new project for this year after all.
That represented a huge commitment, as the call was made quite late last season.
“The original plan was to implement this new structure PU this year in 2021,” said head of power unit development Yasuaki Asaki.
“But then for a variety of reasons, it was decided not to proceed with a brand new PU. However, the thinking on this really changed when Honda announced that we would be leaving the sport.
“I went to President Hachigo, and said to him that we would really like to implement this new structure PU for our last year in the sport. And he kindly accepted that request.”
Read Also:
- What Verstappen's scenic tour revealed about Red Bull's secrets
- Red Bull targets 'best talent' as it ramps up F1 engine division
- Knife-edge F1 battle risks Red Bull/Mercedes development war
Asaki stressed that the changes to the layout of the new PU were so significant that a huge amount of work was required.
“That was never going to be an easy task, given the scope of the changes being made to the power unit’s architecture,” he said.
“First of all we've changed the camshaft layout to be much more compact, and also brought its position lower down so it's closer to the ground.
“The main point of what we've changed was to improve combustion efficiency. In order to do so we had to change the valve angle, and in order to do that we had to change the camshaft.
"We've also had to make the head cover lower and more compact, which means that the way that air flows over it has become a lot better, and we've also lowered the centre of gravity of the ICE.
"Another thing we changed is the bore pitch, by reducing the distance between one bore and the next, we've made the engine itself shorter, smaller.
“In the old engine straddling the transmission we also had a bank offset whereby the left bank was slightly offset from the right bank. So what we've done is reverse this offset on the new engine so that the right bank is forward, and the left bank is back.”
Engine cylinders head covers
Photo by: Honda
Asaki said that Honda had to address all the key parameters in order to stay competitive with its main rivals.
“Another point that we've had to think about is the fact that combustion efficiency has got better. And the camshaft output has got better. Due to the rules of physics the amount of energy that can be stored has changed, and it meant that the amount of exhaust energy has decreased.
“So compared to the recovery that we were getting last year, what we're having to do is increase the amount of crankshaft output, and at the same time ensure that there's a good level of exhaust output, exhaust temperature as well.
“So we've had a number of different development objectives, and we believe we have met them.”
Input from Red Bull Technology helped to ensure that nothing was left to chance.
“I believe that we were able to implement everything that we have to in order to compete with Mercedes,” said Asaki.
“We had a lot of cooperation from Red Bull, making sure that we could get the most from this new compact engine.
“This is the first time that we’ve gone as far as changing the structure of the PU itself.
“But I think the biggest challenge that we’ve had up to this point was back in the McLaren days, when we made big changes to the MGU-H, we changed the positioning of the compressor and turbine in relation to the V bank.”
Regarding the effort required from his team and the wider Honda company Asaki added: “I had acknowledged in some ways that it was an incredibly challenging target.
“But I think our engineers have had both the understanding that yes, we’ve only got a year left, but also we’ve got a full year left and we have to do something with that time, and they’ve worked hard during the time that we have had.”
We want your opinion!
What would you like to see on Motorsport.com?
Take our 5 minute survey.
- The Motorsport.com Team
Read and post comments
Read also :
Share Or Save This Story
Copy link
Share on Viber
Previous article The master manager who juggled Prost and Senna simultaneously
Next article The lessons F1 learned from Berger's fiery Imola crash
Top Comments
There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?
View More & Comment
More from
Adam Cooper
RB: Tsunoda “mentally on a different level” in 2024
Formula 1
Formula 1
Japanese GP
RB: Tsunoda “mentally on a different level” in 2024
Andretti planning F2 and F3 entries to promote US talent to F1 team
Formula 1
Formula 1
Andretti planning F2 and F3 entries to promote US talent to F1 team
Andretti F1 team formally opens new Silverstone facility
Formula 1
Formula 1
Andretti F1 team formally opens new Silverstone facility
Latest news
F1 United States GP live commentary and updates - FP1
Formula 1
F1 Formula 1
United States GP
45 min
F1 United States GP live commentary and updates - FP1
Max Papis announces departure as IndyCar chief steward
IndyCar
Indy IndyCar 59 min
Max Papis announces departure as IndyCar chief steward
Lamborghini Super Trofeo | Asia Race 2: Victory for Li/Sherlock, but Tregurtha crowned champion over Sceats/Wisniewski
Lamborghini Super Trofeo
LBST Lamborghini Super Trofeo
World Finals - Monza 2026
1 h
Lamborghini Super Trofeo | Asia Race 2: Victory for Li/Sherlock, but Tregurtha crowned champion over Sceats/Wisniewski
Rackley W.A.R. to immediately shut down NASCAR Truck Series team
NASCAR Truck
NSTR NASCAR Truck
Talladega
1 h
Rackley W.A.R. to immediately shut down NASCAR Truck Series team
Feature
Discover prime content
Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
You have 2 options:
- Become a subscriber.
- Disable your adblocker.
Subscribe now Already subscribed? Sign in here
Already disabled your adblocker?
Reload page
Manage Alerts
Subscribe