Honda gets Brawny for the upcoming season!

Ross Brawn is joining Honda! Yay! :D

Sorry, I just couldn't help myself. Maybe I'll get to reviving this blog back up now that it's the offseason again. :)

Anyhow, here's the tidbit that I'd like to share with the rest of the world. Good news for Jenson and the rest of the crew:

"Brawn named as Honda team principal" from the official Formula1.com site. You can also check out tons of content on Ross, as well as his first official interview with Honda, at the official Honda Racing F1 site.

This Blog is Dead...

This blog is dead... for now. So sorry. I lost a fair amount of interest in blogging, and the will to write about Honda and Jenson given the current state of the team. So sad.

I'm still cheering Jenson on though, and I still check up on news. I just haven't been able to get myself to start posting again.

In the meantime, you can still check out his official site, www.JensonButton.com. It features regular Jenson and race updates, plus tons of discussions and games at the forum.

Oh, and you might want to try out the following free games (don't worry, all you'll need is your browser):

BATracer - A Free Racing Manager Game, one of the best out there, if not the best. Race in everything from F1 to A1, ChampCar, Le Mans, BTCCs, V8s and more! The Jenson forum also has its own private game. I've won the past two seasons, but I'm sitting the current one out. :P

Trophy Manger - My favorite, right up there with BATracer. Trophy Manager is a free, online football (soccer) manager game that gives you control over your very own club and all the responsibilities that come with it. Each country has its own league and its own set of divisions. There are also national teams (my country made it to the semifinal leg of the first ever FITA WC) and international club cups/competitions. It's really fun, and only takes a few minutes of your time to play it. You can even play against some of the people from the forums. Care for a friendly? :)

Jenson gets to testing in Malaysia

From HondaRacingF1.com:

Jenson Button joined the team in Sepang this afternoon to take over the test programme from Rubens for the remainder of the test. He completed a couple of runs to acclimatise himself with the circuit and conditions before working through a chassis set-up evaluation completing 24 laps.

Jenson will complete the final day of testing tomorrow.

The RA107 still isn't showing signs of speed, and Rubens' engine blew out. Ouch.

Nowhere else to go but up

Ouch. That was quite painful to watch. At least Rubens found some pace late and finished ahead of the Aguri. That's about it though. The rest of the race was just miserable for the team, especially Jenson. Getting a drive-through penalty for an already slow car just adds insult to injury.

I'll try to post results and all kinds of reports and Jenson stuff soon. Just feeling quite glum at the moment.

At least there's no way it can get any worse right? Let's hope Honda get their car sorted out by next race, so Jenson can start driving the wheels off of it come race day. One fast, fast lap is good enough for me at this point. Something to give hope at least.

Honda struggles to find pace in qualifying

This was rather bad. One Aguri made it to the top ten, and the other just missed out. The Hondas meanwhile were further back. Makes one wonder if the teams might have accidentaly switched cars during production.

Why on earth are the Aguris running so fast and the Hondas running so slow? We could blame the Bridgestone switch, which the factory Honda team is still getting used to. Or maybe we could blame it on the livery - perhaps the images of Earth simulate the Earth's weight too and slow the car down. Whatever, the Hondas got their butts kicked by the Aguris. And everyone else.

Jenson could only manage 14th, while Rubens didn't even make the first cut, qualifying a lowly 17th.

Here's what Jense had to say, from Formula1.com:

Jenson Button, Honda (14th, 1m 27.264s):
"It hasn't been a good weekend for us so far. Today it was difficult to judge how hard to push the tyres. At the start of the lap I was getting understeer because the tyres were not up to temperature, then later in the lap I was getting oversteer as the rears were going off, which just shows the issues that we have. I got the best out of the car today and right now we are where we are. We'll obviously do what we can for the race, then we have some work to do to start addressing the issues we have identified."

Honda better get this sorted out soon. It's going to be very painful to see the Aguris of all teams finish much higher than them. I mean, the least they could do is finish ahead of those cars. Sigh.

Race starts in just over an hour. Let's hope it won't be so hard to watch.

Button in doubt?

Button up for a tought fight

Jenson Button admits there is a lot of work to do if Honda are to match their expectations after a disappointing performance in the first official practice sessions of the season-opening Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne.

The Somerset man finished the morning session in fifth place but could manage only 14th in afternoon practice as he struggled with the car's stability.

Button has already written off his team's chances of a podium finish here and has expressed doubts about whether they will even be able to secure a top-10 finish during qualifying.

And the 27-year-old believes it is crucial they are able to get to the bottom of the problems that undermine the Honda car.

Has Jenson really written off his chances of a podium finish? I'd like to see him prove himself wrong.

More on the article by Gary Rose at www.sportinglife.com

Could the Hondas really have been running heavy?

From Honda's official press release:

Jacky Eeckelaert, Engineering Director
"Our plan for today was to run through our usual race preparation programme with set-up work during the morning session, then focusing on long runs in the afternoon. In view of the damp conditions, we adapted the programme slightly. Rubens' afternoon was brought to an early conclusion as he spun entering the last corner causing some damage to the car. Unfortunately we were unable to repair it in time to take part in the rest of the session. Jenson completed his planned programme giving us some valuable data to study this evening as we work to improve the balance of the car before qualifying tomorrow."

Okay... so Honda were doing set-up work in the afternoon when they were reasonably quick, and long runs in the afternoon. Hmm... so they were running heavy?

"The cars will now have fresh engines installed overnight, ahead of tomorrow’s opening qualifying session of the year."

Or maybe they were running on slower engines. :D

Super Aguris outpace Honda

So much for being "Honda B". At the second round of free practice on Friday both Ant Davidson and Taku Sato set faster times in their Aguris than their factory Honda counterparts.

Little surprise that both Ferraris topped the afternoon timesheets. But for Honda to be way down in the timesheets AND outpaced by the Super Aguris, customer car or not... well, that might be cause for some concern.

What exactly is wrong with the Honda? There's been a lot of discussion regarding their dismal form over winter testing, specially after projecting themselves among the top runners in this years' field. Are they struggling? Why can't they seem to find any pace?

Your guess is as good as mine. I'd say Honda could be playing coy and are simply playing things down (way down). They could just be focusing on maintaing race pace and reliability after already having privately tested flat out pace. Or they could really be struggling, which is really going to be very disappointing for us fans.

On its own, Honda's engine should perhaps be among the best in the field. But if they really are stuggling then it's very likely that the team is having difficulty setting up and getting the car to drive like it should with those Bridgestones on. I just hope they get things sorted out. Sooner than later too. In the meantime, we'll just have to hope and wait for race day itself.

Anyhow, here's what Jenson had to say about their dismal afternoon run, from Formula1.com:

“It’s quite realistic in a way,” 14th-fastest Jenson Button admitted glumly. “We didn’t have the best winter, we were improving the car all the time but it’s still not where want to be. We are really struggling under braking as many drivers behind us found, we have a stability issue, but that’s not all of it, just a part of it. It’s going to be a tough weekend!”

Somebody please tell me that they're just planning on taking everyone by surprise?

What are the people at Honda thinking?

So you've seen the car and heard about Honda raising awareness for environmental change. But how exactly do they plan on going about it all?

In SportNetwork.net's How are Honda going to make a difference?, Phil Huff reports on the car manufacturer's plan of action.

Honda launch radical, sponsor-free livery

Race drivers Jenson Button and Rubens Barichello were both on hand as Honda unveiled a radical new livery set to feature none other than an image of Earth itself. While sponsor-free to the naked eye, people can actually pledge to have their name as part of the pixels used to build that very image of Earth on the car, all for a good cause.

Here's a sample image of the car, courtesy of HondaF1.com:


And here's an exerpt from HondaF1's official press release:

Honda Racing F1 Team launches pioneering environmental concept

The Honda Racing F1 Team today announced a major new initiative for the 2007 Formula 1 season. To help raise awareness of the environmental issues facing the planet, the RA107 F1 car will simply feature a huge image of earth, in place of the advertising and sponsor logos which have featured and dominated all other F1 cars for decades.

The car’s new look is a powerful call to action for fans, sponsors, customers and members of the public to join Honda’s commitment to help address the environmental issues facing the world.

Via the websitewww.myearthdream.com, anyone who wishes, will have the opportunity to have their name on the car, make a pledge to make a lifestyle change to improve the environment and make a donation to an environmental charity. Under the concept of “our car is your car”, each name will form a tiny individual pixel which will help build the image of planet earth on the car. Each name will be visible on the website when you make the pledge or under a microscope on the car.

More news and images at Honda's official website, of course.

You can also check out major f1 news sites, like this one from f1.gpudate.net.

It'll be interesting to see these Google Earth... I'm sorry, Honda Earth cars line up alongside the more conventionally-liveried cars come Melbourne. ;)

Livery launch date set

From F1Technical:

The Honda Racing F1 Team will present the RA107's new livery on 26 February. In January, the team already launched the challenger, but the livery still hasn't been released. According to Nick Fry, the new livery will be something that has never been seen in F1. Rumours have been spread for months now that BP will be the new main sponsor of the team, which would result in a green livery.

Can't wait to see it. One more month til the season kicks off, too. Hurrah!

Latest testing report - Barcelona

Another week of testing wraps up. Here's Honda's official press release:

Honda concludes three day Barcelona test

And here's the ever-growing worry over Honda's seemingly dismal pace:

What's wrong with the performance of the RA107?
Honda's pace cause for concern?

So much has happened in just a week...

Gosh, so much to report on. Let's see... where do I start?

Jenson's back in form, which is the best news of all. His ribs are healed up, and he looks to be in top shape.

"Although I have been out of the car for a while, I am very pleased with my return to the cockpit and also my fitness level, which I have been working hard on since
Christmas."

That's from Jenson talking about his immediate future with Honda, as he hopes to move closer to his first ever F1 Title. He also talked about his plans further up ahead (like at age 34) in "the Times", a copy of which is in the official forums I think.

Jenson really does look set to present a serious challenge for this year's championship, and others are taking notice as well. Here's DC proclaiming, Jenson Button's gonna conquer F1". From a fan's perspective, that's a pretty good headline if I ever saw one. Hehe. And I am praying and hoping that it holds true.

He's a man on a mission this year. And I hope the entire Honda team does get behind him and challenges for the top spot. Honda seems ready enough, and they've recently launched their new car (sans the new livery, which happens next month) at Barcelona. Jenson was able to drive both the RA106 and the new RA107 for some direct comparison, and he looks to have come away feeling good about the new car. It did stall on his first lap out, but once Jenson got going he was able to put in a well-driven 86 laps.

That about does my week ending report for now. For all that you've missed, you can catch up by checking out Honda's offical site at HondaRacingF1.com, or at Jenson's official site at JensonButton.com. To make things easy, you can also Google News for the latest on Jenson (I've set the link to already filter things out).

Honda RA107 shakedown!

Honda's launch is less than a week away (Thursday, January 25)! Wohoo!

Even better, their shakedown is set for this Monday at Silverstone.

Honda will shake down their new Formula One car at Silverstone next week before shipping it to Barcelona for the team launch.

The team's senior technical director Shuhei Nakamoto told autosport.com that the new car will have a shakedown at Silverstone on the morning of Monday, January 22, just to ensure there are no niggling problems before its first serious test at Barcelona.

After the shakedown the car will be transported immediately to Spain.

Reporters'll very likely be there to report on how the car goes... and looks, even if the livery hasn't been set yet. You can check out the thread at the official forum here.

New cars, new looks, same contenders

From the official (see the likes of McLaren's MP4-22), to the not so official (see Renault's R27 racer), new cars are rolling out for 2007, giving us sneak peeks into what the cars will look like once they take to the circuits for a brand new season of Formula One racing.

It's all very exciting to see what shapes and liveries the new cars take on, and even seeing the drivers in their all new looks and do's as well. Fernie with his new haircut and Vodafone suit, Kimi in red (which I personally find not to be his color at all). Unfortunately for us Honda and Jenson fans, we have and will continue to be waiting a tad longer to see what the new car will look and drive like (RA107 launch is late January, with the livery to follow at a yet to be announced date the following month). And because of Jenson's injury, we have also yet to see Jenson suit up and drive during winter testing.

No matter though, a lot if it should still stay the same for Honda and its drivers. It's arguably got the most continuity and stability going for it among the top teams (Gil de Ferran has gone on record saying that it is a positive, as has Nick, although we best not get our hopes up too much). Fernando Alonso echoed these sentiments recently, when sharing how he "fully expects" Jenson to be one of his main rivals for this year's championship (*knock on wood*).

So has anything really changed? In terms of who's favored, probably not. Jenson, Kimi and Fernie are still up there; Massa and Fischi are bound to be mixing it up as well. It's all speculation at this point anyway. But, as a fan, I do hope 2007 will be more exciting, and have more surprises in store for us. And hopefully for Jense fans, it'll be of the good kind - plenty of exciting racing capped by both expected and unexpected wins galore.

Anyone got a fast forward Button? :P

Back to blogging for the new year!

Internet's back! Wohoo! Well, sort of at least. So sorry that I've been unable to update for the past two weeks. I feel like I've missed out on so much already.

So to start off the new year, I'll just be posting some links to some stories that came out the past weeks that might be of interest:

Kimi mentions Jenson as a possible contender, behind Fernando and Felipe.

Honda to unveil RA107 on January 25. Sorry though, it's going to be coming out in its testing colors (likely black). The livery launch will be held at a later date, sometime in February.

Jenson on how winning has... or hasn't changed him.

Button urging Honda to make relaxed predictions. Less time with the press, more time with the car? :P

Blundell on the Brits. With an excerpt (sorry, just couldn't resist with this one :P):

ITV-F1.com: Jenson certainly finished the year with some classy performances following his first win; do you expect that level to continue into the coming season?

Mark: It has to continue.

The raising of his game highlights the increased confidence following his win.

Whenever you get a result like that your confidence level does grow.

And now in the eyes of everybody he is exactly what it says in the history books – a grand prix winner.

He goes into next year with that mindset and that’s the level he has to work from to go and achieve something greater.

There are no ifs and buts any more; he has now achieved what everybody has been waiting for over the past few years.

Britain’s next best hopes are now waiting in the wings, so the current hope needs to deliver the results.

and last but not the least, Honda convinced of competitive engine.

Martin Brundle's Driver Review

Martin Brundle's driver review continues with Kimi and Jenson. Here's an excerpt:

This was the year when Britain finally made it back to the top step of the podium with Jenson Button's brilliant win in Hungary.

But did the Honda ace really break through into the top flight in 2006, or is there still more to come?

In the latest part of ITV Sport commentator Martin Brundle's driver review, he gives you his thoughts on 'Our Jens'.

ITV-F1.com: Though Jenson won a grand prix, it was in extraordinary circumstances, so is there still a lot to prove?

Martin: There is, I mean as Jenson said recently, he scored more points in the last eight races than anybody else, and though there is an element of kidology there, it also says that the Honda team is on an upward curve.

And he definitely drove well and looked back in his old form in the second half of the season.

The team lost designer Geoff Willis early on and they lost some momentum.

They won the 'winter grand prix' in testing and then were off the pace at Melbourne. And then they just seemed to lose their way.

It came back again but even so you weren't always convinced that Jenson had the chance to win a race.

It was interesting to watch the TV figures after Jenson won, because the public didn't think he was going to keep on winning either.

To get the British public on board as Nigel [Mansell] and Damon [Hill] did, you've got to keep winning or at least look like you're going to win.

And Honda and Jenson didn't do that. In fact they played it down a little bit didn't they? They warned people that it wasn't going to happen every weekend.

You can read the rest at ITV.com here. The review starts with Kimi, and progresses on to Jenson (bottom half contains Martin's thoughts on Jenson). Happy reading!

Jenson the Jolly Green Giant

Lol. Some nice and funny news on Honda saving the planet, from ITV.com. May we indeed perhaps see a touch of green in honda's new livery? :P

According to the latest issue of Marketing Week magazine, the Honda F1 squad are all set to embrace the current trend for everything green, with a raft of environmentally friendly ideas.

The story (accompanied by a nice picture of a 2002 Jordan) tells how the team are keen on the use of solar power and renewable energy, and that the team may adopt an all-green livery.

However the ideas have not found favour in all quarters.

Fashion expert Lucy Bing said: “Saving the planet and a few polar bears is all well and good, but Honda fail to realise that green is like sooo last season’s colour.

“With his height and fluffy beard, Jenson Button could end up looking like the Jolly Green Giant while poor little Rubens may adopt the appearance of a leprechaun.”

A source close to the team dismissed Miss Bing’s comments, insisting that being environmentally aware far outweighed any fashion issues.

Year-end Recaps

First off from Formula One's official site, a 2006 race by race recap, part 5 featuring the the Hungarian, Turkish and Italian Grands Prix. I'd never noticed Nick Fry's expression before (he's the one behind Jenson in the pictures). Both of them look kinda funny... hahaha. That must've been such a fun feeling having all that elation surging through your body though... hence the funny faces... hahaha. :)

Here's a short excerpt:

As the title rivals struggled, the Hungaroring meeting belonged to Honda’s Jenson Button, who came from 14th on the grid to score his maiden Formula One win. The changeable weather played a huge part in the race, but Button’s victory was totally deserved, the Briton keeping his cool in tricky conditions to finally triumph on his 113th attempt.

Also, from ITV.com, an in-depth discussion of Honda's first full season at the helm, featuring all the ups and downs of 2006. The article's title, Finishing with a Flourish" sums it up quite well though. ;)

Here's an excerpt:

The highlight, of course, was Jenson Button’s long-overdue maiden grand prix victory in Hungary, Honda’s first as a constructor since the 1960s.

Although that watershed signalled that the team had shrugged off its mid-season blues, it was above all a supreme personal achievement from Button.

In tricky wet-but-drying weather conditions that turned the race into a lottery, Jenson’s delicacy of touch came to the fore and he thoroughly earned his place on the top step of the podium.

At a stroke, the 26-year-old from Frome silenced those increasingly prevalent voices that doubted he would ever shake off his ‘nearly man’ status.

Lastly, here's a feature, again by ITV.com, of their picks for pictures of the year. Jenson Button's in there of course. :P

Rubens says Jenson needs to complain more

Seriously, Rubens wants Jenson to complain a bit more. Hahaha.

Taken in the right context though, he was talking about complacency that may have settled in with Jenson about the way things work around Honda. Rubens was simply encouraging Jenson to be a bit more assertive in asking for changes for him to be able to craft a better, race-winning car. I think Jenson has already started to do so, really making the team his and getting them behind him and getting that race pace back, specially after that win. It never hurts for your number two to give a bit more of a push. Rubens wants Honda to improve just as much, and I bet everyone at Honda will be on the same page too. :)

Anyhow, here's an excerpt from the article of Barrichello talking about Honda still having more work to do, from Autosport.com:

Jenson Button and Honda Racing still have work to do if they are to make the steps forward needed to fight for regular race wins, claims Rubens Barrichello.

Although Button finished off the season as the highest points-scorer from the Hungarian Grand Prix onward, Barrichello is under no illusions about the progress that it still needed ahead of 2007.

"I think that this team has a huge amount of potential, but still has some work to do if we are to become consistent winners," said Barrichello, who joined the team at the start of this year.

Happy reading!