Formula One engine compression ratio issue is "close to fair but still gray area," says Yasuaki Asaki. "Honda must read the rivals' moves and schemes." (2ページ目)

【We must anticipate our rivals' schemes】

European engineers who have lived their entire careers within the "F1 world" exploit the grey areas of the rules in order to gain even the slightest performance advantage. To them, grey is fair. Sometimes they outmanoeuvre not just rival teams, but also the organisers. This mentality is essential for winning, so Honda must anticipate our rivals' moves and schemes.

However, Honda personnel with mass-production vehicle experience often struggled to outmanoeuvre opponents. This stemmed from their deeply ingrained belief that grey areas equate to foul. Honda's primary battleground is the United States, where litigation is common. Therefore, the development of vehicles must adhere to the "grey is foul" principle to ensure the corporation's sustainability.  Otherwise, we could face severe consequences.

The Volkswagen (VW) diesel emissions scandal in 2015, known as "Dieselgate," is a prime example. VW had sold diesel vehicles worldwide equipped with software that illegally suppressed harmful emissions only during official testing. This led to massive recalls and huge compensation payments in the United States and other countries.

So, when I was leading Honda's PU development, my strategy was to preemptively eliminate any areas where competitors might try to outmanoeuvre us. If anything in the regulations seemed questionable, I would formally ask the FIA, in writing, "Is this allowed?"

If the answer was "No," the FIA would issue a written notice to all teams. By asking questions like this to plug loopholes in the regulations, you can't gain an unfair advantage yourself, but neither can your opponents.

European manufacturers seldom question rules since it signals their awareness to rivals. Honda, with overlapping mass production and F1 staff, finds this inevitable. Without suspecting rivals, engineers can't respond--it comes down to intuition.

F1 is a competitive sport. In my view, if you aren't interested in what your rivals are trying to do, you aren't truly interested in winning either. In that sense, while it's understandable that the new entrant, Audi, didn't notice the compression ratio issue beforehand, I wish Ferrari had addressed it more thoroughly.

In F1, know-how often leaks when personnel change teams. Engineers build a track record, then move for a higher salary, and the team pays not just for information, but also for expertise.

Engineers often market themselves to new teams by highlighting their proprietary knowledge. This personnel movement helps teams acquire key intelligence.

Unlike the aerodynamic parts on a chassis, the PU's inside are invisible, making it difficult to discern what's actually going on. If Ferrari or Audi wanted to know what Mercedes is actually doing right now, the only way would be to poach engineers from Mercedes or Red Bull Powertrains to obtain that information.

That's why countermeasures inevitably lag behind in PU. You search for someone who has the information you need, poach them, get the information, and make improvements... It takes considerable time to get to that point.

Honda, lacking connections, was effectively isolated and struggled to understand what was happening in the F1 world. Attempts to hire engineers from F1 largely failed due to location challenges.

Honda couldn't get information through personal connections, yet we still beat Mercedes and Ferrari to become champions. That's something I'm proud of (laughs). Honda knew we were the outsiders in F1. How do you compete under those circumstances? If you don't constantly keep that in mind when racing, I think you'll just keep getting beaten every time because of the regulations changing, repeating the same cycle.