Orihara: In Canada, we will focus on manageability.

      Honda Racing Corporation (HRC) has outlined the priority tasks that the Japanese engine makers, together with Aston Martin, are focusing on in preparation for the Canadian Grand Prix.

      HRC believes they have fully resolved the issue of excessive vibrations that led to malfunctions, and are now striving to achieve improvements in other areas to ensure that Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll feel more confident in the AMR26 during their driving.

      “At the Miami Grand Prix, we received confirmation that the battery vibration situation and overall reliability of the power unit have improved,” said Shintaro Orihara, chief engineer and head of the HRC racing team. “This was also an important opportunity to address energy management, and this work will continue in Canada.

      At Lance Stroll's home race in Montreal, we will focus on enhancing handling characteristics and energy management tactics to help our drivers gain more confidence.

      Essentially, this is the most important task for the upcoming weekend. If we can make progress, and the drivers can navigate corners more confidently at higher speeds, then the lap times will improve as well.

      Canada will host another sprint weekend, so it is crucial to make the most of the single practice session on Friday. Its duration will be the usual 60 minutes, so we need to optimize everything in this one session.

      One of the features of the track configuration is the long straight, and it is critically important to set the energy usage parameters correctly for this section of the lap. Additionally, there is a slow corner before the back straight, but the first two corners of the lap can also be considered slow.

      We must also take into account that the weather may be rainy and cool. Therefore, there could be challenges due to insufficient grip – making it even more important to achieve the desired handling parameters in conjunction with the operation of the MGU-K motor-generator and the power unit's ability to deliver torque at the required level with maximum precision.”