Honda

As Formula 1 pre-season testing came to a close on Friday in Barcelona, it was Ferrari who once again stole the headlines as Kimi Raikkonen finished more than one second clear of the field.

Brendon Hartley insists the atmosphere within Toro Rosso has shifted since new Formula 1 engine partner Honda came onboard, providing the team with a “real sense of opportunity” heading into 2018. 

These pictures show the official 2018 MotoGP race livery for Cal Crutchlow and rookie LCR Honda team-mate Takaaki Nakagami.

Pierre Gasly says a flawless pre-season Formula 1 testing programme at the start of Toro Rosso’s new partnership with Honda has resorted a feel-good factor for the Japanese manufacturer.

Six days down, two to go. Formula 1’s pre-season testing schedule in Barcelona is starting to wind down, yet after the freezing conditions that marred much of last week’s running, we are only just starting to see the teams and drivers stretch the legs of their new cars.

Toro Rosso’s Brendon Hartley says Honda has “definitely delivered” on its pre-season hopes of producing a competitive and reliable Formula 1 engine for the 2018 season. 

Michael Bartholemy, team boss of Marc VDS’ racing operations, has admitted he is talking to another manufacturer other than Honda about supplying machinery for his MotoGP outfit in 2019.

McLaren executive director Zak Brown says the team's former engine partner Honda is "doing a good job" with new Formula 1 customer Toro Rosso, believing it was "just a matter of time" until the Japanese manufacturer enjoyed a smooth pre-season testing period.

Once upon a time, a donkey was being driven along a road leading down a mountain side.

Pierre Gasly remained upbeat about Toro Rosso's running on the opening day of the second Formula 1 pre-season test in Barcelona, finding plenty of positives to take from the day despite losing the afternoon session to a brake issue.

Amid a muddled winter of testing, the speed of Marc Marquez and the 2018 Honda has been one of the few constants, with the reigning world champion remarking, “I’m there” no matter the conditions during testing in Qatar.

Pierre Gasly feels the time he spent racing in Japan last year is easing Honda's arrival at Toro Rosso ahead of the 2018 Formula 1 season, having enjoyed a successful first pre-season test in Barcelona last week.

Jack Miller has said it was “amazing to watch” Marc Marquez as the reigning world champion repeatedly sought out the limits of adhesion on the second day of testing in Qatar, the Catalan eventually "saving one of his biggest ones yet."

The second day of MotoGP testing in Qatar proved two things to reigning world champion Marc Marquez: Andrea Dovizioso will be one of his principle challengers from the very first race, and 2018 will be a season of “many ups and downs.”

Alma Pramac Ducati team-mates Jack Miller and Danilo Petrucci had a Friday night scare when they fell moments apart, at the same corner, during MotoGP testing in Qatar. Miller was the first to go down, at Turn 1:

Marc Marquez has said Honda was always the “main priority” when weighing up his future options, and claimed extending his contract with the manufacturer with whom he has won four MotoGP world championships was the “only option.”

Suzuki’s winter of promise continued apace in Qatar as Andrea Iannone ended the first day of MotoGP testing with the third fastest time, claiming the front-end issues he encountered in Malaysia and Thailand were nowhere to be seen in the stifling desert heat.

Pierre Gasly feels Toro Rosso's charge to the top of the lap charts through the first Formula 1 pre-season test in Barcelona this week has answered many of engine partner Honda's critics following the winter switch.

Despite the very best efforts of the weather led Storm Emma’s Spanish cousin, day four of Formula 1 pre-season testing in Barcelona went by without any real hitch.

With engine specification for the leading MotoGP manufacturers frozen at round one, this week's pre-season test in Qatar offers their last chance to decide on a specification for 2018.

Cal Crutchlow certainly isn't afraid of doing things his own way. And when it comes to the spread of aerodynamic winglet fairings and rider coaches in MotoGP, the LCR Honda rider is openly sceptical of how much difference they make.

Christophe Bourguignon, crew chief to Cal Crutchlow, has revealed the Englishman’s winter training programme was all of his own doing, and sees LCR Honda's lead rider as “relaxed” and “confident” of his chances for the MotoGP year ahead.

The Team Dynamics British Touring Car Championship squad has run its Honda Civic Type R car for the first time in Spain ahead of the 2018 season.

Renault wants Red Bull to make a decision about its future Formula 1 power unit supply plans by the FIA’s notice deadline of May 15.