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Linksheaven 2006 F1 Preview: Honda

March 2nd, 2006

1st annual linksheaven.com

formula
1 preview - 2006

Honda Racing F1 Team

Team

Honda Racing F1 Team

Nationality

Japan

Engine

Honda V-8

Tires

Michelin

Team Principal

Nick Fry

Team Website

www.hondarcingf1.com

Sponsors

Honda, Lucky Strike, Michelin, Ray Ban

2005 Results

Driver’s	9th
Constructors	6th

Drivers

Driver

Rubens Barrichello

Nationality

Brazil

2005 Results

8th

Website

www.barrichello.com.br

Driver

Jenson Button

Nationality

Great Britain

2005 Results

9th

Website

www.jensonbutton.com

test

Driver

Anthony Davidson

Nationality

Great Britain

2005
Results

BAR Test Driver

Website

www.anthonydavidson.info

2006 Outlook

The car may look like a BAR, but for the first time, it is most definitely a Honda all the way around, and if all the signs are correct, and they most often are not. But if they are, the Honda RA106 chassis could be one of the ones that everyone is chasing all year long. The team is well known for running light on fuel and near the end of the line of the technical regulations in winter testing, so their supreme success this winter is a bit hard to completely believe in. They have consistently been either the fastest or one of the fastest teams all winter, and they have run the most reliable kilometers of any team this winter, so to date, in terms of performance and general balance and reliability, the Honda team has to be considered the winter testing champions, and going into the season, their technical package looks to be as strong as anyone. 
The RA106 chassis has taken what BAR did well in 2004, and learned what they did very poorly in 2005, and taken those lessons to heart to come up with an improved, more efficient, lighter, and stronger aerodynamic car than they have ever had, and they finally seem to have found balance with it front to rear and made it agreeable to both pilots who make up the strongest lineup the team has had in years. With this team there is always the chance that they have a part on the car that won’t be legal for long once the season starts, but at least for now, they seem to have a strong base to start with. 
Honda’s RA806E 2.4 Liter V8 at least appears to be another shining stone for them. They had one of if not the most powerful V10 in the last 2 years, and all reports seem to suggest they have brought that trend with them to the new formula. Even Renault and McLaren have publicly stated they believe Honda has the best engine coming into the season. For the first time it has been quite reliable in testing, and the company’s wealth of experience with similarly architectured engines in the 2.65 Liter V8 Turbo format from their highly successful Champ Car program and more recently the 3.0 Liter normally aspirated V8 in the IRL that has dominated the last few seasons, has helped their switch to the new formula. You can never read too much into testing in reality, but any way you look at things, Honda may finally have arrived on the scene to play for all the cards.
Other teams are even suggesting that, alongside Renault, Honda is the benchmark this season. That might be a stretch but one thing’s for sure - this season they have 2 drivers capable of finishing in the points, not just 1. For the purposes of completion we will look at Button versus Sato last season. 16-1 & 18-0 - you know the format: Absolute obliteration. And that’s not because Button was untouchable, it was because Sato was shockingly poor. So much so that Honda did the unthinkable and dropped golden balls altogether, well almost. Barrichello has come from Ferrari after years of playing pansy. He is undoubtedly a very fine driver well capable of winning GP’s. On his day he has outperformed the legendary Michael Schumacher and showed in the Stewart that is able to wring a performance from any kind of car. Make no mistake, this season Button has competition. It is refreshing to hear Gil de Ferrari saying there will be no team orders at Honda, and I believe him. Much like at Williams, there is no need for them to have orders. It is slightly facetious to suggest that they don’t have a driver quite good enough to build a team around, but the benefit to us is that both can go hammer and tongs. And we expect they will. Button showed last season that he could score points in nearly every race. This pre-season RB has been up with him on pace which suggests so can he. Button on his own out-scored Toyota in the latter half of last season, so if you add Rubens to the mix and the fact that Honda look on their game you’ll appreciate that I don’t expect to see Honda trailing on Toyota’s WCC campaign in quite the way they did last year (88 pts to 38). Some can’t see Barrichello beating Button this season simply because Button knows the team and in some opinions is the better driver. Both have a lot to prove. Barrichello needs to show that he CAN win without a Ferrari, and Button needs to prove he can win full stop. All indications are that they will be given the car this season to show off their abilities, and I think Honda are in for a good year.

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1 Comment Add your own

1. Roy | March 3rd, 2006 at 12:51 pm

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Linksheaven 2006 F1 Preview: Honda

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