Why did the second Honda team not succeed in Austria?
Despite the Honda triumph in Austria, which the Japanese manufacturer have been waiting for since 2006, their second team Toro Rosso faced problems that have lasted (and still last) for several Grand Prix.
The Austrian race was an absolute triumph for Red Bull and Honda not only this season, but over the past few years. Honda engines didn’t win the race since the Hungarian Grand Prix in 2006.
However, let's look at this victory from a different angle. To be honest, in fact, Red Bull and Max Verstappen hadn’t strong rivals at Spielberg. At Mercedes it didn’t work since Friday, and they didn’t hide that they didn’t expect good results in Austria. Ferrari is the only ones who could (and must) won, but even during the race it became clear that the team again made a mistake in the tactics of Leclerc. Therefore, no matter how rough and bold was Max’s overtaking, he would still be in the lead, as Leclerc tires wouldn’t withstand another attack of the Dutchman.
So, with Max's victory everything is clear. However, the second client of Honda – Toro Rosso team – wasn’t in the best shape last Sunday. The weak performance in Saturday's qualifying made the race more difficult for Toro Rosso drivers.
According to the Technical Director of the team Jody Egginton, at first the drivers attacked with all their strength, but they had to manage the temperature of the brakes and power unit, which slowed down any progress. After getting out of the long traffic, Alex Albon managed to get close to the mid-field group. However, in the boxes, both drivers lost a lot of time, which affected the progress they could have had.
Moreover, Daniil Kvyat had to manage his tyres due to some rear brake duct damage. So, that’s why he wasn’t able to make any progress. But that's not the only reason. As Dany told later, throughout the weekend their cars lacked pace. In addition, Kvyat had some problems with the engine power. The team felt alarm at the previous stage, in France they also lacked speed and pace. Although before the French GP the team used the new motor on Daniil’s car.
So, obviously before Silverstone Toro Rosso should do a lot of work to minimize losses in the future. However, despite the strong performance, which ended in victory, Honda also should improve the performance of engines, to continue a progress.
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