Sounds like Honda are taking quite a high risk strategy to introduce a new engine before the freeze on engine development, which could either give them a significant advantage next year, or leave them floundering with an engine that hasn't had time to be properly developed:

http://www.itv-f1.com/News_Article.aspx?PO_ID=37180

Let's hope it is the former, so that Jenson can have a dominant year like Mansell in '92

 

Interesting, though understandable IMHO.

The current Honda unit is clearly not a match for several other engines out there. Honda's season was over some time ago, so using the remaing races as '07 testing opportunities is a sound strategy.

I do worry about this engine freeze - surely this will mean an even more predictable F1 - the move to a single tyre supplier removes the current biggest variable between the top teams, and not being able to develop engines will produce less opportunites for teams to up their performance surely??? What areas are left to the teams to up thsir performance? Aero, re-generative power systems......anything else??????

 

It's either going to work very well for them or be a disaster.

 

Are they not going to be able to change anything with engines? Does that mean somebody with an unreliable engine is just stuck with it, or are they allowed to improve components for reliability?

 

AFAIK there will be no changes allowed, for anything other than safety - i.e. if an engine is prone to bursting into flames and the like.

 

A bit hard to police I imagine. What if a component is manufactured to the same design but a better tolerance for example?