28 http://www.racecar-engineering.com SEPTEMBER 2019
FORMULA 1 – HONDA RA619H
Just a couple of seasons ago the idea of a
Honda-powered Formula1 car actually
winning a grandprix seemed inconceivable
W
hen the flag fell at the end
of this year’s Austrian Grand
Prix a celebration broke out
in a modern complex of
buildings not far from Utsonomiya, in Tochigi
Prefecture, Japan. This is the home of Honda
Racing Development Sakura, the organisation
responsible for designing and building the
Formula 1 power units used by both Red Bull
Racing and Toro Rosso. The celebration was for
the first win for a Honda powered car in F1 since
the 2006 Hungarian Grand Prix.
Just a couple of seasons ago the idea of
a Honda-powered Formula 1 car winning
a grand prix seemed inconceivable, as the
Japanese manufacturer had struggled to get
both performance and reliability from its power
unit when fitted in the back of three different
McLaren designs. A short notice switch for
2018 to supplying Toro Rosso coincided with
a concept change for Honda, and this is now
beginning to bear fruit in the back of the Red
Bull RB15 – for which it has also started to supply
power units this year – and, to a lesser extent,
the Toro Rosso STR14 (see page 18).
Lean machine
The Honda RA619H is, on paper, a typical
Formula 1 power unit. At its core is a
turbocharged 1600cc V6 engine with a
90-degree bank angle, variable inlets and direct
injection. It is mated to a hybrid system featuring
exhaust gas recovery and kinetic energy
recovery systems, the former also working as an
The RA619H installed in the Red Bull RB15. Honda says that improvements in the combustion chamber, as well as friction reduction, have contributed to the PU’s better performance
RA619H is an evolution of last year’s PU and the block and heads are similar to those used on the RA618H