Under a fanfare of flash bulbs, smoke, and rousing music, the Honda F1
team launched their 2008 specification car, a 'new' model developed from
the ground up. Sporting a tamer livery from last season, the attractive
white blue and green scheme is seen as an evolution in Honda's 'Earth
Dreams' programme. The launch at the Brackley based team head-quarters,
was a first for Honda, with management, drivers and team personnel
heading to the cold winter climate of the UK for the event, a far cry
from previous launches across the Continent and Far East.
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Honda Racing RA108. Photo by xpb.cc.
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Addressing a media scrum and a select group of Honda partners, CEO Nick
Fry reflected on an unmemorable 2007 for the Honda team, "Obviously 2007
was a year that failed to meet any of our expectations; as a result of
that there has been significant changes in the team over the last six
months. It's really a programme I would call accelerated evolution, what
we've tried to do is address the issues and bring experience to the
team".
With a tough season behind them, Fry explained the fundamental changes
to the Honda team, that he hopes will propel the F1 outfit into regular
point scoring positions in 2008. "Firstly the whole design philosophy
of the car is completely different; it's different in every respect
and by the time we get to Melbourne, every component of the car will be
different."
"Secondly, there is a big change in personnel" elaborates Fry. "We've
tried to bring a lot of experience to the team in all the major
disciplines. The aero-dynamic team is under completely different
leadership; the design engineering of the car has been significantly
re-enforced and the race engineering aswell, all under the leadership of
the hugely experienced and very successful Ross Brawn".
Ross Brawn, whose career at Ferrari ended in 2007 under a cloud over the
technical secrets debacle, now takes the helm as Honda's team principal,
and was keen to highlight the fundamental differences in the RA108.
"The primary difficulty with last year's car is that it produced a lot
of downforce, but in a very aggressive way, the car was very sensitive
to pitch and roll so it made it extremely difficult for drivers to
use those levels of downforce," he explained. "So the focus for this car is to make
sure it produces the aerodynamic downforce in a much more friendly
way. We've also slimmed down the chassis and changed the layout of the
car to give it a lot more potential, particularly with aerodynamic
development for the future.
"It's going to be a very intense season of
development for us, [we have] a lot of new ideas and we want the car to
be able to accept a wide range of changes through the season. The car
you see here is very much a base spec that was established in October
and November, and you'll see over the next few months before we get to
Melbourne there'll be some quite dramatic changes in the car; new engine
cover, new floor, new wings, new barge-boards, so this is very much a
starting spec and a good programme to build on," continued Brawn.
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Jenson Button, Honda Racing F1 Team, Ross Brawn Team Principal, Honda Racing F1 Team, Rubens Barrichello, Honda Racing F1 Team. Photo by xpb.cc.
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Whilst the Honda RA108's will still be piloted by Rubens Barrichello and
Jenson Button. Alex Wurz has made a u-turn on his retirement plans and
joins the team for the 2008 season as the test/reserve driver.
"After I said there was too much race driving in my career, I was
basically [attracted] by the spirit of Honda, their racing history,
together with the constellation of many good clever people coming here,"
Wurz said.
Having completed a recent shakedown test in Valencia, Button and
Barrichello were keen to share their thoughts on the new 'base' model.
"It's always a great pleasure to drive the car," responds the petite
Brazilian "I've only completed thirty laps, it felt well and felt
balanced, there were parts missing, so it was just a shakedown, next
week is the one when everything starts to come".
Despite a difficult season for one of the UK's top Formula One drivers,
Jenson Button was buoyant in his hopes for 2008 and the Honda RA108.
"2007, as everyone knows, was a very tough year for us, but in a way
I think it was a good year; it made us realise that a few things need
to change as we were going in the wrong direction and we've had the
chance to put them right, so I'm looking forward to 2008, not just
2008 but the future with Honda.
"For me the most important thing is the
improvement throughout the season, it's all very well starting with a
reasonably competitive car, but it's improving that is the key and for us
to improve race by race compared to our competitors is all we need to
do, which is what we are aiming for," added the Brit.
With traction control eliminated from Formula 1 this season, Button
addressed the change and the affect it will have on racing.
"I think it's going to add a little bit of excitement to the racing," he
offered. "For some it's going to take a little bit longer than others, but
by the time we get to the first race, we are all experienced, we can all put
up without having traction control as we've driven it before in other
categories. It does mean you have to work a lot harder with engine
management and the driveability of the engine, so we are working very hard
on that and we've already improved a lot; for everyone on the grid there's a
long way to go with helping the driveability because it's not easy trying to
plant this much power onto the circuit."
With the subject of traction control broached by Button, team-mate
Barrichello was eager to add about the fundamental enjoyment that comes
from driving without such an aid. "It's so much fun to drive it [RA108]
without traction control, even on the wet. Some people think it's going
to be a little more dangerous, but I think we have the proper tyres,
it's more fun and we have more command of the car."
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Detail of the Honda Racing RA108. Photo by xpb.cc.
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Looking to the future, Honda are certainly not resting on their laurels
and continue to develop new and young talent for the future. Joining
the team for a second consecutive year, former British F3 champion Mike
Conway continues with the Honda Young Driver Programme and is joined by Luca
Fillipi a former team-mate from Super Nova International in the GP2.
"I've really enjoyed working with the team so far," Conway said. "I want
to build on that and progress forward. I tried the new car last week
at Valencia, and it was great to get the opportunity, so I'm looking
forward to the future."
Having put one of their toughest seasons behind them, the Honda F1 team
are looking to the future, almost starting from a blank sheet. With the
introduction of Brawn to the team, and a complete redevelopment of
their car, Honda are planning ahead to become a potential protagonist of
the F1 championship; whilst this year may not yield a step up to
the level of Ferrari and McClaren, the British based team believe they
have the infrastructure in place to become a force to be reckoned with
over the next few seasons.
