Honda motorsport chief Yasuhisa Arai admits that he had anticipated problems ahead of their fully fledged Formula 1 test with McLaren at Jerez, but despite the problems hailed the efforts and positive attitude that has prevailed in the aftermath of the four day test in Spain.
Arai summed up, "Looking back at the first four days of testing, I’m both happy and relieved that we’ve been able to get the car here and watch it run on the track – it’s a new car and a new power unit, so a huge undertaking for many people in both Sakura and Woking. I’m proud of all their efforts."
It was a trying four days that the team and their two drivers Fernando Alonso and Jenson Button had to endure, with relatively limited mileage and nowhere near a decent pace.
"Of course, we’d anticipated there would be issues – this is a test, after all – but the difficulties we faced here were more than we’d expected, so we weren’t able to get the running time we’d ideally wanted," admitted Arai "Nonetheless, Fernando and Jenson’s feedback has been positive and comprehensive – they’ve given us some very good information."
Despite the circumstances of the Jerez test, Arai revealed, "There’s now an incredible amount of positivity within the organisation. We’ll return to the track in Barcelona – with some modifications – and will be stronger at the next two tests."
"I’m extremely pleased to see Honda back where it belongs – in Formula 1," he concluded.
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