Honda Racing F1
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| Full name | Lucky Strike Honda Racing F1 Team |
|---|---|
| Base | Brackley, Northamptonshire, United Kingdom |
| Team principal |  Nick Fry |
| Technical director |  Shuhei Nakamoto |
| Race drivers | 7. Jenson Button 8.  Rubens Barrichello |
| Test drivers |  Christian Klien James Rossiter |
| Chassis | RA106 |
| Engine | Honda RA806E |
| Tyres | Bridgestone |
| Debut | 1964 German Grand Prix |
| Final race | {{{Final}}} |
| Races competed | {{{Races}}} |
| Constructors' Championships | none |
| Drivers' Championships | none |
| Race victories | 3 |
| Pole positions | 2 |
| Fastest laps | 3 |
| 2006 position | 4th (86 points) |
Honda Racing F1 Team is a Formula One team run by Japanese car manufacturer Honda. The team is based in Brackley, United Kingdom, and uses the facilities of former British American Racing, which Honda fully acquired in 2005. Engines are built at the Honda R&D facility in Tochigi, Japan. The Honda team is led by Nick Fry and currently has drivers Jenson Button and Rubens Barrichello. The team still uses the same predominantly white livery that Honda used in the sport during the 1960s. The car entry for the 2006 season is the RA106 and the new V8 Honda engine is the RA806E, consistent with the nomenclature from its previous two generations of F1 competition
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[edit] History
[edit] Early success
Honda surprised everyone by entering Formula One Grand Prix racing in 1963, just three years after producing their first road car. They began development of the RA271 in 1962 and startled the European-dominated Formula One garages with their all-Japanese factory team (except for American drivers Ronnie Bucknum and Richie Ginther). More startling was the fact that Honda built their own engine and chassis, something only Ferrari and BRM - of the other teams still running in 1962 - had previously done. In only their second year of competition, Honda reached the coveted top step of the podium with Ginther's win in the RA272 at the 1965 Mexican Grand Prix. For the new 3.0L rules from 1966, Honda introduced the Honda RA273. Although the RA273's engine was a well-designed, ~360bhp V12, the car was let down by a relatively heavy and unwieldy in-house chassis. Honda returned to the winner's circle in 1967 with the new Honda RA300, driven by John Surtees. This won the 1967 Italian Grand Prix in only its first F1 race. The RA300 chassis was partly designed by Lola in the UK, and this resulted in the car being nicknamed the Hondola by the motoring press. Unfortunately this was the last truly competitive car that Honda produced for F1 in the 1960s; the following year's Honda RA301 only reached the podium twice and Honda withdrew from F1 at the end of the 1969 Formula One season. Honda backed up their Grand Prix victories by dominating the 1966 Formula 2 season, winning every race that year with Jack Brabham's team. Honda competed as a constructor in 47 Grands Prix in the 1960s.
[edit] Honda as an engine supplier, 1983-1992
Honda returned to Formula One in 1983 as an engine supplier for Spirit and stayed in the sport for a decade, at various times teaming with Lotus, McLaren, Tyrrell and Williams. Honda engines were considered the ticket to Grand Prix glory due to their power, reliability, and winning track record. Honda supplied its engines to six constructor champions, as well as five driver championships (3 by Senna, 1 by Piquet, and another by Prost), before dropping out of the sport again. Honda-powered cars had won 71 Grands Prix, by the end of the 1992 season.
[edit] Aborted F1 project, 1999
From 1993 to 1998, Honda's only presence in F1 was as an engine supplier through its associates Mugen Motorsports, who supplied engines to teams such as Ligier, Prost and Jordan. Mugen-powered cars had won 4 Grands Prix by the end of the 1999 season. In 1998, Honda was seriously considering entry in Formula One as a constructor, going as far as producing an engine and hiring Harvey Postlethwaite as technical director and designer. A test car, RA099, designed by Postlethwaite and built by Dallara, was made and tested during 1999, driven by Jos Verstappen. At a test of this car, Postelthwaite suffered a fatal heart attack, the project was later shelved and Honda decided to merely recommit as a full works engine supplier to BAR, starting in 2000.
[edit] Partnership with British American Racing
Honda returned yet again in 2000, providing engines for BAR. They also supplied engines to Jordan Grand Prix for 2001 and 2002. This would lead to a battle for the right to use the Honda engines in the long term. In 2003, despite their better showing in the previous 2 seasons, Honda dropped Jordan Grand Prix. In mid-November 2004 Honda purchased 45% of the BAR team from British American Tobacco (BAT, the founder and owner of BAR) following BAR's best season, when they were able to achieve second place in the 2004 Formula One season.
[edit] Return
In September 2005 Honda purchased the remaining 55% share of BAR to become the sole owner. BAT will continue as title sponsor with the Lucky Strike brand in 2006, but will withdraw entirely from Formula One after that. It has been decided that team will race under the name Honda Racing F1 Team in 2006.
Despite showing promise pre-season (with the RA806 being considered one of the most powerful of the new V8 engines), Honda demonstrated fairly mediocre performance at the start of the 2006 season. Prior to their win at the 2006 Hungarian Grand Prix, they had only accumulated a single podium finish, a third place finish from Jenson Button at the 2006 Malaysian Grand Prix. The main reason for lack of form (the team was expecting to challenge for the championship) has been down to reliability, with the team dropping out of contention for race victories many times. Pit-stop problems also hampered the team early on, in one case effectively ruining Jenson Button's chances for a good result and possible podium at the Imola. Rubens Barrichello has not had a good season for the team, down to the fact that he has had to get used to the new brakes and traction control. Nevertheless Rubens had out-qualified his team-mate in the previous four races.
Honda had a particularly poor showing at the British Grand Prix in 2006. In particular, Jenson Button was eliminated after the first portion of qualifying after the team failed to get him out for a second run. This resulted in his qualifying 19th. He then retired with an oil leak. In light of this poor form, it was announced that Geoff Willis would be adopting a factory-based role to concentrate on aerodynamics. Following the appointment of Senior Technical Director Shuhei Nakamoto over Willis' head and Mariano Alperin-Bruvera as Chief Aerodynamicist Willis' position appears difficult, and reports indicate that he has left the team.
At the Hungaroring, fortunes changed. Barrichello and Button qualified third and fourth, though Button had to drop ten places, following an engine change. In an incident-packed race, Jenson came from fourteenth on the grid to win his first race, with Barrichello finishing fourth. After this win, the team's performance went up noticeably, displaying consistency (if not overall performance) equal to championship leaders Ferrari and Renault. Both drivers earned points finishes in almost all the remaining races (with the exception of Barrichello's 12th place finish in Japan), with the season ending high note with Button's 3rd place finish in the Brazil - less than a second behind 2nd place Fernando Alonso - after having to start from 14th on the grid.
On November 15, 2006, it was announced that long time BAR Honda and Honda test driver, Anthony Davidson is heading to Super Aguri F1 to race alongside Takuma Sato. He will be replaced by ex-Red Bull racer Christian Klien for the 2007 season and possibly beyond.
[edit] Results
[edit] Grand Prix wins
[edit] Pole Positions
[edit] References
- "Honda announce name for F1 team". NewsOnF1, 01 December 2005.
- "Honda announce 2007 test driver line-up". NewsOnF1, 15 November 2006.
[edit] External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to: |
- Honda F1's website
- RealHondaF1.com Unofficial Fan Site
- Honda F1 history
- Honda Racing F1 'View Suspended'
| Constructors and drivers competing in the 2007 Formula One championship | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| McLaren | Renault | Ferrari | Honda | BMW | Toyota |
| 1 Alonso 2 Hamilton |
3 Fisichella 4 Kovalainen |
5 Massa 6 Räikkönen |
7 Button 8 Barrichello |
9 Heidfeld 10 Kubica |
11 Schumacher 12 Trulli |
| Red Bull | Williams | Toro Rosso | Spyker | Super Aguri | |
| 14 Coulthard 15 Webber |
16 Rosberg 17 Wurz |
18 Liuzzi 19 Speed |
20 Albers 21 ? |
22 Sato 23 Davidson |
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