Honda RA617H

The Honda RA617H was a V6 1.6L turbocharged hybrid engine developed by for use in the MCL32 for the season. Despite extensive changes to the engine, the performance and reliability of the power unit was a step down compared to its predecessor, the Honda RA616H.
The discontinuation of the FIA's token system for engine development allowed engine manufacturers to freely redesign their engines. Honda took advantage of this, trying to mirror many of the concepts used in the PU106 engine. Honda made some very high risk choices in a bid to compete with Mercedes, which was the preferred engine at the time.
However, the engine proved to be hugely unreliable. At least one of the cars suffered a mechanical failure in all of the first six rounds. It wasn't until the 2017 Azerbaijan Grand Prix (round 8) that the team managed to score their first points of the season.
Honda released multiple upgrades to the engine throughout the season. These upgrades and the need to replace damaged engine components so frequently forced the team to exceed their maximum power unit component allocation very early in the season. Because of this, the team was given a total of 390 grid-place penalties throughout the season for unscheduled power unit component changes and exceeding the power unit component quota for the season.
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Category:Honda