Quick post to celebrate the great results for Honda in the Brazilian GP yesterday. Many things to note as being positive.
There was nearly an all Honda podium. While who knows what might have happened if Hamilton had not collided with Albon. Maybe Hamilton would have still made a clean pass later, or not. It was interesting to watch the drag race between Hamilton and Gasly on the last lap (Toro Rosso vs Mercedes as well!) Honda wasn't giving up anything to the Mercedes PU! Kudos to Honda on their power unit progress!
It is interesting that the recently technical directives from the FIA to stop any current or future attempts at playing games around fuel flow (as well as the ongoing sage around burning lubricants). After the new directives, it is interesting that Ferrari has had a bit of a qualifying slump. Coincidence or not? Who knows! Leclerc had a new power unit with just two races to run, so no doubt they have it turned up as far as it goes (no need to race to specific longevity goals). So his pace should have been about as good as it gets for Ferrari right now.
Given the altitude of the Brazilian race, there is also the potential that Honda's turbo configuration/size may have allowed it to perform better than Mercedes? Honda was clearly on pace the entire weekend. Putting the potential for some type of altitude advantage aside, Honda is right there in the mix now with Ferrari and Mercedes. If there are differences in the top teams I think we are now starting to see situations in which no single team dominates in all scenarios. Now we are seeing teams close enough that small differences allow one or another to get an advantage on a track by track basis.
Lastly the win was on the 113th anniversary of the birth of Honda founder and namesake Soichiro Honda.
Richard