2008 looking dismal for Honda F1 already.

[ringle]

2008 looking dismal for Honda F1 already.

How long until Honda F1 calls it a day and pulls the plug? (Perhaps right after Super Aguri F1 gets sold?)

[Jack_Bauer]

Obviously the usual 'it's only testing' caveats apply, but so far Honda have looked far from impressive. What's probably the most depressing thing for the team is that everyone in the team seems to be saying that the car is a huge improvement over last year's car and is much nicer to drive. But whilst balance and braking issues appear to have been largely cured, there just seems to be a complete lack of basic out-of-the-box speed from the car. It's far too early for any influence from Ross Brawn to really take effect on the pace of the car, so it's hard to imagine them being consistent points scorers this season. As it stands it seems they are behind Ferrari, McLaren, BMW, Renault, Williams, Red Bull, Toyota and quite possibly Torro Rosso too. If Ross Brawn was looking for a challenge after leaving the cushy surroundings of Maranello then he's certainly found one at Honda!

Honda have managed to squeeze themselves into the same spot between a rock and a hard place that Toyota have been occupying for several seasons. The main goal of their participation in F1 is to raise their profile and show off their expertise. Persevering but failing dismally is embarrassing to the company. Throwing the towel in and admitting failure would be embarrassing to the company. The only course of action I see them taking is throwing vast sums of money at the team and hoping/praying that Ross Brawn can turn things around in the next few years.

[ScionDriver]

I think its also a shame that Jenson Button could be in the prime of his career but we may never know how could he could be unless the car around him gets better. Same goes for Rubens, who may not be in his prime any more but could still have perhaps competed for a WC.

[fpv_gtho]

Brawn's opinion of the old car was essentially it had plenty of downforce, but had very poor balance. The likelyhood is theyve reversed those around for this year, with good balance and poor downforce.

[NSXType-R]

Where did Honda go wrong in the first place?

Weren't they dominating in the 80's and 90's?

Why'd they lose the momentum?

[fpv_gtho]

The last time they entered as a constructor was the 60's. In the 80's and 90's they were an engine supplier, although theres various debate that they had a strong influence with the rest of the chassis. The first mistake they made after taking over BAR was promoting a motorcycle engineer above their long time technical director, leading him to quit. Since then, theyve been unstable until their recent staff aquisitions which havent had enough time to bear fruit. BAR themselves lost momentum after 2004 because of the new aero regulations, notably the front wing which had to be twice as far off the ground as previously. That basically screwed with their whole aero principle, and the team have admitted to never fully understanding the car afterwards.

[Ferrer]

Chaps, no need to look further, here is the reason.

"...rumours are circulating that Williams may have been using data from BMW, that BMW may have been using data from Toyota, that Toyota may have been using data from Torro Rosso, that Torro Rosso may have been using data from Super Aguri, that Super Aguri may have been using data from Spyker, that Spyker may have been using data from Red Bull, that Red Bull may have been using data from Honda and that Honda may have been using data from the 1991 Leyton House team, but upside down so that none of it worked properly."

Old but gold.

Sniff Petrol » F1 SPYING SCANDAL DEEPENS AND WORSENS AND THEN DEEPENS A BIT MORE AGAIN

[ringle]

If Honda F1 runs true to testing form and is fighting it out with Super Aguri and Force India in the early races, will either of Jenson or Ruebens finish the year in the drivers seat?

[ringle]

Good luck Honda, more than three seconds off the pace!

Results Feb.14/08

1 . H. Kovalainen - McLaren Mercedes MP4-23 - 1:17.974 (+ 0.000 ) - 96 laps

2 . D. Coulthard - Red Bull Renault RB4 - 1:18.485 (+ 0.511 ) - 107 laps

3 . K. Nakajima - Williams Toyota FW30 - 1:19.117 (+ 1.143 ) - 90 laps

4 . L. Hamilton - McLaren Mercedes MP4-23 - 1:19.429 (+ 1.455 ) - 83 laps

5 . R. Kubica - BMW Sauber F1.08 - 1:19.535 (+ 1.561 ) - 129 laps

6 . S. Vettel - Toro Rosso Ferrari STR2B - 1:19.688 (+ 1.714 ) - 53 laps

7 . N. Piquet - Renault R28 - 1:19.817 (+ 1.843 ) - 134 laps

8 . S. Bourdais - Toro Rosso Ferrari STR2B - 1:19.848 (+ 1.874 ) - 101 laps

9 . N. Heidfeld - BMW Sauber F1.08 - 1:19.934 (+ 1.960 ) - 116 laps

10 . M. Webber - Red Bull Renault RB4 - 1:19.980 (+ 2.006 ) - 107 laps

11 . G. Fisichella - Force India Ferrari VJM01 - 1:20.669 (+ 2.695 ) - 89 laps

12 . J. Button - Honda RA108 - 1:20.988 (+ 3.014 ) - 121 laps

13 . A. Davidson - Super Aguri Honda SA07 - 1:21.010 (+ 3.036 ) - 103 laps

14 . N. Hulkenberg - Williams Toyota FW30 - 1:21.116 (+ 3.142 ) - 71 laps

15 . L. Di Grassi - Renault R28 - 1:21.286 (+ 3.312 ) - 73 laps

16 . A. Wurz - Honda RA108 - 1:21.605 (+ 3.631 ) - 103 laps.