The 2016 Formula One World Championship might only be part way through it’s second day of winter testing, but one person has already been given the boot.
In a move that Japanese power-unit manufacturer Honda have described as ‘annual organisational and personnel changes’, Honda boss Yasuhisa Arai is to stand down from his position on March 1st.
He was already set to retire at the end-of-the-season, however poor performance since Honda’s return to Formula One has probably forced the change to come early.
According to Sky Sports Honda will appoint Yusuke Hasegawa to replace Arai as the head of Honda F1 operations.
A new director role to oversee operations has also been created and Yoshiyuki Matsumoto has been appointed to this position.
The decision to make the change now could spell another season of struggle for McLaren.
In 2015, the new Honda power-unit struggled for both performance and reliability, does Arai’s departure signal that Honda have not made sufficient gains during the winter?
McLaren team boss Eric Boullier had described McLaren’s performance on the first day of winter testing as “not good enough”.
2016 season takes first casualty
