“I was worried”: McLaren and “cheating team” get full wrath of Honda senior

Head of engine development at Honda, Yasuaki Asaki, has criticised McLaren and a “cheating team” for how it has conducted itself in Formula 1.

The 2021 season will mark the final year for Honda in the sport, at least for now. Asaki chose to reflect on the Japanese firm’s association with F1.

“I was close to retirement, but then we got the full brunt of McLaren,” Asaki said in a press conference.

“I was worried that if it continued like this, Honda would get out of the sport without winning a race.

“Then, I looked back on my long career as a Honda engineer and he thought, ‘How did I manage before?

“When I joined the team earlier, we fought with and won against Porsche, BMW, Ferrari and Renault. That thought gave me confidence and I was able to overcome all setbacks.”

Asaki spoke about how Honda helped deliver a competitive engine to both Red Bull and AlphaTauri.

“We finally managed to win again,” Asaki said.

“It was great to see AlphaTauri triumph as well, as they were the ones who knocked on our door to enter into the partnership while McLaren made us completely black.”

Without directly naming Ferrari for its fuel scandal, Asaki made it clear that Honda is not fully convinced with the Italian team.

“I’m not going to say who, but there was a team that cheated on fuel flow,” Asaki concluded.

Read more: “It still hurts to say”: Ricciardo reveals brutal reality behind Renault exit

Add Comment