Honda

File:Honda Racing F1 Team Logo.png
Full name	Honda Racing F1 Team
Base	Brackley, United Kingdom Tochigi, Japan
Noted staff	Ross Brawn, Nick Fry
Noted drivers	Ronnie Bucknum, Richie Ginther, Jo Schlesser, John Surtees, Jenson Button, Rubens Barrichello
Previous name	British American Racing
Subsequent name	Brawn GP Formula One Team
Formula One World Championship career
Debut	1964 German Grand Prix
Races competed	88
Constructors' Championships	0
Drivers' Championships	0
Race victories	3
Podiums	9
Pole positions	2
Fastest laps	2
Final race	2008 Brazilian Grand Prix

Formula One portal

Japanese car manufacturer Honda participated in Formula One, as an entrant, constructor and engine supplier between 1964 and 2008. Honda's involvement in F1 began with the 1964 season; their withdrawal in 1968 was precipitated by the death of Honda driver Jo Schlesser during the 1968 French Grand Prix.^[1] They returned in 1983 as an engine supplier, a role that ended in 1992. They returned again in 2000, providing engines for British American Racing (BAR). By the end of 2005 they had bought out the BAR team, based at Brackley, United Kingdom, and renamed their new subsidiary as Honda Racing.

It was announced on 5 December 2008 that Honda would be exiting Formula One with immediate effect due to the current economic crisis and were looking to sell their team.^[2] On 27 February 2009 it was announced that team principal Ross Brawn had led a management buyout of the Brackley team.^[3] The team raced successfully as Brawn GP in 2009, and was subsequently sold to Daimler AG and renamed Mercedes GP for the 2010 season.

History[link]

1964–1968[link]

Restored 1965 Honda RA272, the first Japanese car to win in Formula One. The car is painted in the racing colors of Japan.

Honda entered Formula One Grand Prix racing in 1964, just four 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, ~360 bhp 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. This was the last competitive car that Honda produced for F1 in the 1960s.

The following year's Honda RA301 only reached the podium twice. The team's new Honda RA302 appeared in only a single race at Rouen-Les-Essarts, lasting only a few laps before its fiery crash resulted in the death of driver Jo Schlesser. The death prompted Honda to withdraw from F1 at the end of the 1968 Formula One season.^[1]

Aborted 1999 F1 project[link]

From 1993 to 1998, Honda's only presence in F1 was as an engine supplier through its closely related but independent partner, Mugen Motorsports, who supplied engines to Footwork, Lotus, 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. In addition, Honda pulled engineer Kyle Petryshen from HRC to help with the design, implementation and management of the new engine in the new chassis.^[4] A test car, RA099, designed by Postlethwaite and built by Dallara, was made and tested during 1999, driven by Jos Verstappen. The team impressed at test sessions, beating some more experienced and better financed teams, even if they were mostly in the midfield. At a test of this car, Postlethwaite 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.

Honda Racing F1 Team[link]

In September 2005 Honda purchased the remaining 55% share of BAR to become the sole owner. BAT continued as title sponsor with the Lucky Strike brand in 2006, but withdrew from Formula 1 for 2007. It was decided that the team would race under the name Honda Racing F1 Team from 2006.

2006[link]

Despite showing promise pre-season (with the RA106 being considered one of the most powerful of the new V8 engines), Honda demonstrated fairly mediocre performance at the start of the 2006 season despite a pole position at Australia. Prior to their win at Hungary, they had only accumulated a single podium finish, a third place from Jenson Button at Malaysia. The main reason for lack of form (the team was expecting to challenge for the championship) was 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 Imola. Rubens Barrichello did not have a good season for the team, down to the fact that he had to get used to the new brakes and traction control, after moving from a very successful six year stint at Ferrari. Nevertheless Rubens had out-qualified his team-mate in two of the final 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 appeared difficult, and reports indicated that he left the team.

Rubens Barrichello driving for Honda at the 2006 Brazilian GP.

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) arguably better than championship leaders Ferrari and Renault. Button scored as many points as championship runner up Michael Schumacher in the last third of the season. 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 would be heading to Super Aguri F1 to race alongside Takuma Sato. He was replaced by ex-Red Bull racer Christian Klien for the 2007 season.

2007[link]

Earthdreams livery on Honda's trucks.

Rubens Barrichello driving the Honda RA107 at the 2007 British Grand Prix.

With tobacco sponsorship in F1 in full decline, 2007 also saw the end of British American Tobacco's sponsorship of Honda, allowing the team to choose a livery that better suited their corporate image. Unveiled on 26 February 2007, the RA107 car featured the bare minimum of corporate advertising (advertising required by the FIA), instead focusing on Honda's environmental desires, with a livery depicting the planet Earth against the black background of space. On the rear wing was the web address of environmental awareness website myearthdream.com. This site was launched February 27, 2007, immediately after the official launch of the 2007 car. Reactions to the new Honda livery were mixed, with Greenpeace accusing the team of being hypocritical, given how polluting F1 is.^[5]

The team's form in pre-season testing was patchy, and Jenson Button urged the squad to improve. The RA-107's sheer lack of pace was evident at the season-opening Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne on March 18, with Button and Barrichello qualifying 14th and 17th respectively (well behind the 'satellite' Super Aguri team, whose car is effectively an update of the previous year's Honda, the RA-106). Barrichello finished the race in 11th place, with Button in 15th after receiving a drive-through penalty for speeding in the pit lane. The team also failed to score points in the four subsequent races, their best finish being 10th in Spain and Monaco, scored both times by Rubens Barrichello. Honda finally scored a point in the French Grand Prix, courtesy of Button's eighth place finish.

From July 2007, recognising the aerodynamic problems within the car, Honda began to recruit a new team from across the Formula 1 paddock. Chief aerodynamicist Loic Bigois and assistant Francois Martinet were signed from WilliamsF1; Jörg Zander and John Owen from BMW Sauber either later in 2007 or early in 2008.^[6]

2008[link]

Rubens Barrichello driving the Honda RA108 at the 2008 Australian Grand Prix.

On 19th July 2007, it was announced that Barrichello and Button would continue the factory effort as teammates into 2008.^[7] On November 12, 2007, autosport.com confirmed that former Ferrari technical director Ross Brawn was to join Honda as team principal. Nick Fry remained with the team as Chief Executive.^[8] On the 10th January 2008, it was announced that Alexander Wurz had signed as test driver for the 2008 Formula One Season.^[9] On 29 January 2008, Honda launched their 2008 race car. The "Earth Car" had a slightly different livery from its 2007 counterpart, with only part of the car containing the earth picture, and the rest with Honda's classic white paint. Button, Barrichello and Wurz were present at the launch.

Honda had another disappointing year, and by mid-season they had switched development to the 2009 season, where new regulations come into play. Despite this, Barrichello managed a podium in the wet British Grand Prix with an inspired choice to full wet weather tyres at the right moment.

Sale and formation of Brawn GP[link]

The team continued until the end of the 2008 season, when Honda again exited the sport, unwilling to continue the Brackley-based team's $300 million budget and staff of 700 during an extended period of global economic crisis.^[1] Nick Fry and other Honda F1 senior team management "intend to make every effort possible to secure the future of the team"; stated they had received assurances that "Honda will provide the necessary support to complete the Honda RA109, the team's 2009 F1 contender and believed they "can still have a very successful 2009 season if a new owner can be found."^[10] Many possible new owners were linked to the team, including Prodrive boss David Richards^[11] and Mexican businessman Carlos Slim.^[12] It was also rumoured that the team would enter the 2009 season with backing from driver Bruno Senna's personal sponsors and Honda itself. Senna would have been joined by Jenson Button and the team would have used Mercedes-Benz engines.^[13]

On 18 February, it was confirmed that Virgin Group had made a bid to buy the team.^[14] However, the team was eventually saved by a management buy-out led by Honda Racing team principal Ross Brawn.^[3] On 25 February, the team's attorney registered the domains 'brawnracing.com' and 'brawnracing.co.uk', hinting at the possibility that the team might race under a new name.^[15] Rubens Barrichello was confirmed as Jenson Button's teammate for the 2009 season on 2 March.^[16]

Wikinews has related news: Brawn GP take over Honda Formula One team

On 6 March, Honda Motor Company announced that the Formula One team had been sold to Ross Brawn and renamed as Brawn GP.^[17][18]

Honda as an engine supplier[link]

1983–1992[link]

Honda RA121E V12 engine as supplied to McLaren for the 1991 season.

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, sophistication 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.

2000–2005[link]

Honda RA005E Engine as supplied to BAR for 2005.

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, a year dominated by Michael Schumacher and Ferrari.

Formula One results[link]

References[link]

Specific references:

General references:

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Honda F1

Wikinews has related news: Honda quits F1

• Honda F1's website
• Honda F1 history
• Honda Racing F1 'View Suspended'

v t e Honda Racing F1 Personnel: 1963–1968: Soichiro Honda | Yoshio Nakamura | Shoichi Sano 1999: Harvey Postlethwaite | Tim Densham 2006–2008: Nick Fry | Ross Brawn | Yasuhiro Wada | Geoff Willis | Shuhei Nakamoto | Loïc Bigois Notable drivers: Jenson Button | Rubens Barrichello | Ronnie Bucknum | Richie Ginther | Jo Schlesser | John Surtees Formula One cars: RA270 | RA271 | RA272 | RA273 | RA300 | RA301 | RA302 | RC100 | RA099 | RA106 | RA107 | RA108

Riccardo Patrese

Born	(1954-04-17) 17 April 1954 (age 58)
Formula One World Championship career
Nationality	Italian
Active years	1977 – 1993
Teams	Shadow, Arrows, Brabham, Alfa Romeo, Williams, Benetton
Races	257 (256 starts)
Championships	0
Wins	6
Podiums	37
Career points	281
Pole positions	8
Fastest laps	13
First race	1977 Monaco Grand Prix
First win	1982 Monaco Grand Prix
Last win	1992 Japanese Grand Prix
Last race	1993 Australian Grand Prix

Riccardo Gabriele Patrese^[1] (born 17 April 1954) is an Italian former racing driver, who raced in Formula One from 1977 to 1993.

He became the first Formula One driver to achieve 200 Grand Prix starts when he appeared at the 1990 British Grand Prix, and the first to achieve 250 starts at the 1993 German Grand Prix. Patrese entered 257 Formula One World Championship Grands Prix and started 256 races making him the third most experienced F1 driver in history, after Rubens Barrichello and Michael Schumacher. He was runner-up in the 1992 Formula One season and third in 1989 and 1991. He won six Formula One races, with a record gap of over six years between two of these – the 1983 South African Grand Prix and 1990 San Marino Grand Prix.

Formula One career[link]

Shadow and Arrows[link]

Patrese was born in Padua, Veneto. He made his debut in 1977 with the Shadow racing team at the Monaco Grand Prix when the team were forced to change drivers due to Renzo Zorzi having financial problems. Later that year team-leader Jackie Oliver left Shadow to form the Arrows team, taking Patrese with him. Shadow took Arrows to court, arguing that the design of the Arrows car was so similar to their own that Arrows had stolen it. The court agreed, forcing Arrows to redesign their car, which they did in just six weeks.

In 1978 Patrese very nearly won Arrows' second race, the South African Grand Prix, until engine failure forced him to retire 15 laps from the end. Later that year, Patrese was involved in a pile-up when he came together with James Hunt and other drivers' cars at the start of the Italian Grand Prix. One of the other drivers involved was Ronnie Peterson, who, although his injuries were not in themselves life-threatening, died from an embolism the following day. An injuction was filed by the Grand Prix Driver's Association to ban Patrese from the next race, the United States Grand Prix. This went through and Patrese took no part in that Grand Prix weekend at Watkins Glen. After the crash, Hunt (along with other drivers) blamed Patrese for starting the accident, and viewers of Hunt's commentaries of Formula One races from 1980–1993 on BBC Television were regularly treated to bitter diatribes against Patrese when the Italian appeared on screen. Hunt believed that it was Patrese's muscling past that caused the McLaren and Lotus to touch, but Patrese argues that he was already well ahead of the pair before the accident took place. Patrese, together with the official who started the race, stood trial in 1981 for Peterson's death but both were declared not guilty and speculations towards Hunt's involvement in Peterson's death arose instead.

Brabham[link]

In 1982 Patrese moved to Brabham and gained a lucky win at that year's Monaco Grand Prix when there were five leaders including Andrea de Cesaris and then Didier Pironi who both ran out of fuel whilst leading the final lap. A second win followed in 1983 at the South African Grand Prix. He also crashed out late in the race while leading at San Marino, but in a season which saw his team-mate Nelson Piquet claim his second Drivers' Championship title, Patrese finished a distant ninth. It would be seven years before he made another visit to the top step of the podium.

Alfa Romeo[link]

Patrese driving for Alfa Romeo in 1985.

A move to Alfa Romeo in 1984 delivered two lacklustre seasons resulting in eight world championship points and a single visit to the podium at his home Grand Prix. Patrese and team mate, American Eddie Cheever, were hampered by cars with Alfa Romeo V8 turbo engines that proved too thirsty for the amount of fuel they were allowed to carry. Often both drivers drove good races to be in the points, only to run out of fuel two or three laps from the finish dropping them out of the points.

Return to Brabham[link]

In 1986 Patrese returned to Brabham alongside fellow Italian Elio de Angelis, but by now the team was a spent force and would never again take a driver to victory in a grand prix. Two more winless seasons followed despite the team's BMW engine being considered at the time to be the most powerful on the grid. Despite the trials of uncompetitive machinery, Patrese never publicly criticised the team and earned respect throughout the sport for his professionalism.

Williams[link]

Patrese driving for Williams at the 1988 Canadian Grand Prix.

Toward the end of the 1987 season, Patrese was given the chance to revitalise what seemed to be a declining career when the Williams driver Nigel Mansell was injured whilst qualifying for the Japanese Grand Prix. With the help of Brabham owner Bernie Ecclestone, Patrese was drafted in to replace Mansell for the season's finale in Australia.

Patrese impressed the Williams management sufficiently to be signed by them as Nelson Piquet's replacement for the 1988 season. However, 1988 saw Williams struggling with an uncompetitive car powered by non-turbocharged Judd engines and it was not until the following year and the arrival of Renault engines that Patrese and his team-mate Thierry Boutsen were able to challenge for race points. Patrese achieved an impressive 3rd place in the 1989 drivers championship, despite taking no wins. Patrese finally won his third Grand Prix at the 1990 San Marino Grand Prix and finished that year's Drivers' Championship in seventh place.

Patrese driving for Williams at the 1991 Monaco Grand Prix.

In 1991 Nigel Mansell returned to Williams and, together with Patrese, the team became genuine contenders for both the Drivers' and Constructors' Championships. Two wins in Mexico and Portugal gave Patrese his most competitive F1 season thus far and a respectable third place behind Championship contenders Mansell and Ayrton Senna. Patrese also outqualified Mansell at every race until the halfway point of the season at Silverstone, and provided much support for the Englishman at races such as Monza and Portugal.

Williams dominated F1 in 1992 and Patrese continued to deliver in his role of second driver to Nigel Mansell, moving out of the way for Mansell while leading comfortably at that year's French Grand Prix.Again Patrese handled the delicate situation about team orders diplomatically, repeatedly offering a "No comment" to questions about the team orders that had been imposed on him at the red flag period of the French race. Patrese took a single win at the Japanese Grand Prix and had eight other podium finishes, including six second-place results.

With Alain Prost, Ayrton Senna and Nigel Mansell all desperately trying to sign for Williams, Patrese's position looked to be under threat and he signed for Benetton before the end of the year.

Ironically, only Prost was able to agree terms with Williams for 1993, leaving a seat free for Patrese had he remained with the team.

Patrese was invited to rejoin Williams in 1994 to fill the seat of Ayrton Senna after his fatal accident at Imola, but ultimately decided against returning to Formula 1.

In the second half of 1996, Williams invited Patrese to test their latest car at Silverstone, with the Italian setting a time that would have placed him on the second row of the grid for that year's British Grand Prix.

Benetton[link]

While Williams continued to dominate F1 in 1993, Patrese found it difficult to live with his new team-mate Michael Schumacher and before the end of the season Benetton informed Patrese that he was "free to seek an alternate drive".

Retirement[link]

As most teams already had drivers signed for 1994, Patrese opted for retirement and brought the longest F1 career in history to a conclusion.

In 2002, as thanks for his years of service to Williams, Patrese was invited to test the team's latest F1 car.

In 2005 he returned to racing in the inaugural season of the Grand Prix Masters formula for retired F1 drivers. He finished third behind his former team-mate Nigel Mansell and Emerson Fittipaldi in the sole 2005 race at Kyalami, South Africa. His 2006 season was less successful with a 10th place finish at Losail in Qatar and a 6th at Silverstone.

Patrese's record of 257 Grand Prix entries stood for 15 years, surviving the Schumacher era when Michael Schumacher retired on 250 race entries. Rubens Barrichello finally overhauled Patrese's total, recording his 258th Grand Prix entry at the 2008 Turkish Grand Prix. As part of the "handover", Patrese tested a Honda RA107 at Jerez on 9 September (Barrichello was driving for Honda at the time).^[2][3] Schumacher since came out of retirement and became the second driver to surpass Patrese's former record.

Complete Formula One World Championship results[link]

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position / Races in italics indicate fastest lap)