What About Honda

[Eyo]

Am I alone here or is there a kind of silence from the Honda Team?
In the last few years they were pretty much on the head lines every winter with what ever news and predictions. Now I feel like they are not even there.
I hope this is something good and it will turn out to be a better year if not one of the best.

[sonic_roadhog]

Winter testing can never be fully believed but there have been little indications that Honda have anything special for this season. At very best they look like being 5th or 6th quickest behind Ferrari, BMW, McLaren, Renault (not in that order) fighting with the likes of RBR, Williams and Toyota.

The team still seem to be making the normal noises claiming they are quicker than Renault but not quite on the pace of the top two teams, but the car looks por out on track - lacking any balance.

Perhaps they have some bits to put on before Aus but then so do all the other teams - doesn't look like being a classic season.

Sonic :)

[futuretiger9]

You would have thought that the lack of bravado coming from Honda would be a good sign, indicating quiet confidence. However, one suspects that the reason for the silence is that there is very little optimism to report. I would expect Honda to be in a no-mans land behind McLaren/Ferrari/Renault/BMW, but just ahead of Toyota/Williams/Red Bull.

[Roamy]

Honda will either shine this year or get the broom.

[Hawkmoon]

If F1 history is any guide, Honda will probably never reach the top. Most of the wins and all of the championships for the last 20+ years have gone to Ferrari, McLaren, Williams and Renault. Renault have ousted Williams from the Big Three and others, such as Jordan in '99, have flirted with the top but failed to actually get there.

But think about it. Who has replaced Lotus, Brabham and Tyrell in the championship contenders stakes? Only Benetton/Renault has managed to wrest the title from the Red-Grey-Blue trimumvirate. You have to go back to 1962 and Graham Hill's win in the BRM to find a title winner from a team other than those I mentioned. That's Ferrari, McLaren, Williams, Benetton/Renault, Lotus, Brabham and Tyrrell winning every title for the last 45 years.

Brabham, Lotus and Tyrrell are gone and nobody has replaced them at the front of the grid. Honda, BMW, Toyota and Red Bull have the weight of history against them if they are to win a championship.

One hand on the trophy is red, one is grey and the other is a technicolour yawn. I don't think there is room for anybody else. At least not yet.

[Roamy]

well I will go with highly unlikely but not impossible

[F1boat]

Honda seem in trouble... this makes me even more happier for Jenson's win in Hungary - he got the chance he had.

[Eyo]

I can’t be so negative about them. I’m trying to make a different picture in my head. They learned form the past and not making that huge publicity about there works.
Lets face it, it can’t be worst then it has been. They made good impression in testing then no results in races.

[Narr]

Their ongoing problem has been developing the car throughout the season, if they can sort that out then a bad start won't be so problematic for them.

[ClarkFan]

If F1 history is any guide, Honda will probably never reach the top. Most of the wins and all of the championships for the last 20+ years have gone to Ferrari, McLaren, Williams and Renault. Renault have ousted Williams from the Big Three and others, such as Jordan in '99, have flirted with the top but failed to actually get there.

But think about it. Who has replaced Lotus, Brabham and Tyrell in the championship contenders stakes? Only Benetton/Renault has managed to wrest the title from the Red-Grey-Blue trimumvirate. You have to go back to 1962 and Graham Hill's win in the BRM to find a title winner from a team other than those I mentioned. That's Ferrari, McLaren, Williams, Benetton/Renault, Lotus, Brabham and Tyrrell winning every title for the last 45 years.

Brabham, Lotus and Tyrrell are gone and nobody has replaced them at the front of the grid. Honda, BMW, Toyota and Red Bull have the weight of history against them if they are to win a championship.

One hand on the trophy is red, one is grey and the other is a technicolour yawn. I don't think there is room for anybody else. At least not yet.

Hawkmoon, your history is a bit off. There was this fellow named John Young Stewart, who won in 1969 (Matra - Tyrell was only an entrant then). And Tyrell was actually a come-and-gone contender whose days as a serious contender didn't outlast Sir Jackie.

The real end of the era of new, strong teams was the end of the Cosworth Ford as a serious contender in 1982. Before then, teams like Tyrell and Williams could get a start with a reasonable engine at a reasonable price. Now it takes the GDP of a mid-sized developed nation to launch a mid-field team. Benetton was a bit of a fluke in this area, but they had scads of money and, like Tyrrell, managed to get ahold of the best driver of the time at a critical moment for the team.

ClarkFan

[Hawkmoon]

Hawkmoon, your history is a bit off. There was this fellow named John Young Stewart, who won in 1969 (Matra - Tyrell was only an entrant then). And Tyrell was actually a come-and-gone contender whose days as a serious contender didn't outlast Sir Jackie.

The real end of the era of new, strong teams was the end of the Cosworth Ford as a serious contender in 1982. Before then, teams like Tyrell and Williams could get a start with a reasonable engine at a reasonable price. Now it takes the GDP of a mid-sized developed nation to launch a mid-field team. Benetton was a bit of a fluke in this area, but they had scads of money and, like Tyrrell, managed to get ahold of the best driver of the time at a critical moment for the team.

ClarkFan

I know technically Matra were the '69 champions but Uncle Ken and Wee Jackie were the principal members of the team that would win for Tyrrell over the next few seasons so I figured it was essentially the same team, just under a different guise.

If you want to leave Tyrrell out it just makes my point stronger. Benetton/Renault are the only team in decades who have been able to win a title. Lotus and Brabham are sadly confined to the record books and nobody has risen to replace them.

That same Benetton team that nabbed Schumi also won the title with Cosworth power in '94 so it was still possible to win with Cosworth power afer '82. OK, it was highly unlikely, but possible none-the-less.

If Honda and BMW want to win the title anytime soon that had better hope that Button and Kubica are another JYS or Schumi.

I've got news for 'em. Button and Kubica aren't even close.

[jens]

If even Honda's head propagandist Nick Fry isn't hyping them up, then it seems pretty strange. :p :

But yeah, it seems to be a typical Honda season. Probably they'll fight with their own country's rival Toyota for 5th-6th position in case they can find some form in the second half of the season.

[jens]

http://f1.gpupdate.net/en/news/2007/02/23/button_admits_honda_is_behind/

Hmm, at last Honda seems to have started to acknowledge their real position...