Honda Racing F1
Surname | Honda Racing F1 Team |
---|---|
Companies | Honda GP Ltd. |
Company headquarters | Brackley ( GB ) |
Team boss |
Nick Fry (2006-07) Ross Brawn (2008)
|
statistics | |
First Grand Prix | Germany 1964 |
Last Grand Prix | Brazil 2008 |
Race driven | 88 |
Constructors' championship | 0 - best result: 4th ( 1967 , 2006 ) |
Drivers World Championship | 0 - best result: 6th ( 2006 ) |
Race wins | 3 |
Pole positions | 2 |
Fastest laps | 2 |
Points | 156 |
Honda Racing F1 was a motorsport racing team and works team for the Japanese automobile company Honda , which took part in the Formula 1 World Championship from 1964 to 1968 and from 2006 to 2008 . The racing team operated from a base in Great Britain. The second Formula 1 engagement was a continuation of the British BAR team that Honda had taken over in 2005. As such, via Brawn , it is also a predecessor of the Mercedes-AMG Petronas team, which is currently entered in the Formula 1 World Championship . In addition, Honda supplied engines for various Formula 1 teams, including Williams and McLaren, for several decades . The relationship with McLaren was one of the most successful partnerships in Formula 1 history. Honda returned to Formula 1 in 2015 as an engine supplier for McLaren. In the 2019 season, Honda will equip Red Bull and Toro Rosso with engines.
history
Works team (1964–1968)
Honda's involvement in Formula 1 began on August 2, 1964 at the German Grand Prix at the Nürburgring . Honda made its debut as a works team with the American Ronnie Bucknum and the number 20 Honda RA271 . The R stood for racing car, A for automobile and the number for the achievable engine power . First it should be painted gold according to Sōichirō Honda , but since South Africa already claimed this color, the white color "Ivory White" with a red dot was chosen, based on the Japanese flag. Bucknum did not reach the goal at the first GP, he stranded in the 11th of 16 laps. His fastest lap was 9:22 minutes. Despite the failure, he was rated 13th. At the next races on September 6th at the Italian Grand Prix in Monza and on October 4th at the US Grand Prix in Watkins Glen, the Honda did not finish.
Formula 1 team manager was Yoshio Nakamura , who also acted as project manager for the sports car prototype Honda S360 . Tadashi Kume, who later became the Honda President from 1983 to 1990, was responsible for the construction of the racing cars, as well as racing director and designer. Hisakazu Sekiguchi was the technical director and Hideo Takeda was responsible for the chassis. The only 25-year-old Shōichirō Irimajiri , who had already designed successful racing motorcycle engines, and his team developed the engines of the RA273 from 1966, RA300 from 1967, and RA301 and RA302 from 1968.
In 1965 , Bucknum Richie Ginther , also an American, drove the Honda RA272 for the Japanese . Bucknum and Ginther scored a total of eleven world championship points for Honda - Ginther clinched the first victory at the Mexican Grand Prix , the eleventh Formula 1 race for Honda.
In 1966 , the team took part in only three races of the Formula 1 World Championship with the RA273. The Mexican Grand Prix resulted in fourth place for Ginther and eighth place for Bucknum.
In 1967 , Honda signed the British John Surtees , who had become world champion for Ferrari in 1964 . In the first five races in Kyalami, Monaco, Zandvoort, Spa and Silverstone, he moved the improved RA273. The new racing car RA300 had - on the advice of Surtees - a chassis from Lola based on the Lola Indianapolis racing car and was nicknamed "Hondola". In the first race in 1967 with this new car, he won at Monza . With Surtees as the only driver, Honda finished fourth in the constructors' championship.
In 1968 Honda couldn't quite keep up with the trend and achieved second and third place as the best result with RA301. In the middle of the season, Honda surprised the professional world with the new RA302 racing car, which had an air-cooled V8 engine. The new design, largely made of a magnesium alloy, was used for the first time without thorough tests on July 7, 1968 at the French Grand Prix in Rouen-les-Essarts and became a death trap for the prominent French driver Jo Schlesser . The racing drivers David Hobbs and Joakim Bonnier were able to drive a Honda RA301 in addition to Surtees. David Hobbs drove at the Italian GP on September 8th and Joakim Bonnier in the final race on September 8th in Mexico , where he finished fifth. At the end of the season, Honda ended its Formula 1 involvement for the time being.
Honda as an engine supplier
First phase: Factory engagement (1983 to 1992)
In 1983 Honda made a comeback in Formula 1 and supplied the Spirit team with engines. Before the last race of the season they switched to Williams and promptly won two championship points.
Honda remained engine supplier for the Williams team until 1987, before switching to McLaren - despite winning the world title in 1987 . Frank Williams attributes Honda's decision to switch to his physical handicap, which occurred in 1986 after a car accident: The Japanese management did not trust the paraplegic team boss to run his racing team at the same high level as before. In 1987 and 1988 Honda also supplied the Lotus team with engines, and in 1991 Tyrrell was an engine partner alongside McLaren.
Honda celebrated the greatest successes with McLaren. From 1988 to 1991 they won the drivers and constructors' world championships without interruption. McLaren-Honda achieved 44 Grand Prix victories and a total of 699 championship points. After the 1992 season, Honda ended its factory involvement as an engine supplier under the impression of an economic crisis that had persisted since 1990 .
Second phase: Mugen-Honda (1992 to 2000)
Regardless of the factory withdrawal, Honda remained indirectly linked to Formula 1 in the 1990s. The subsidiary Mugen supplied a number of racing teams with engines from 1992 to 2000, which were used with some success and occasionally also lead to victories. These include Arrows (1992-93), Lotus (1994), Ligier (1995-96), Prost (1997) and Jordan (1998-2000).
Third phase: Comeback as an engine supplier (2000-2010)
At the end of the 1990s there were plans to take part in the Formula 1 World Championship again with a works car. In 1993 and 1999, Honda developed two racing cars that were built into ready-to-drive prototypes. Developed in 1999, the car was seriously tested with the aim of factory involvement; the Dutchman Jos Verstappen completed an extensive test program in the spring of 1999. However, the project was terminated at short notice.
Instead, Honda returned to Formula 1 as BAR's engine supplier in the 2000 season. Despite the commitment of former world champion Jacques Villeneuve , there were initially no successes. The team only became more successful when Honda gradually increased its influence at BAR, supplying the engine as well as the transmission unit and providing the racing team with aerodynamics specialists from the group. In the 2004 season, the Briton Jenson Button stood on the podium ten times and BAR finished the year as second in the constructors' championship behind Ferrari . However, the final connection to the top did not succeed.
In 2005, Honda took over 45 percent of the shares in BAR. The tobacco company British American Tobacco - owner of the BAR (British-American-Racing) team - gradually began to reduce its Formula 1 involvement because of the EU-wide tobacco advertising ban that had already been passed. BAR slipped in 2005 due to some problems with the car (among other things, the vehicles were disqualified after the San Marino GP because of illegal tanks) to sixth place among the designers. Honda decided during the year to take over the team completely.
In addition to BAR, the Jordan team also received engines from Honda in 2001 and 2002, which Mugen had supplied between 1998 and 2000. Jordan, however, found itself on the decline again after successes in 1998 and 1999 and was now able to achieve less and less point placements with the Honda engines as a mere "customer team".
Comeback as a works team (2006–2008)
On January 1, 2006, Honda took over the remaining shares of BAR and for the first time since 1968 sent its own team to Formula 1, which was called Honda Racing F1 . BAR stayed on board in 2006 as the main and title sponsor, but then withdrew from Formula 1. This was preceded by the development of two of our own racing cars in the 1990s, which, contrary to original plans, were ultimately not used in Formula 1.
Background: own approaches
In February 1993, Honda presented a Formula 1 car called the RC 100 to the press. According to a press release in Autosport, the vehicle was designed by Honda engineers in their spare time. Other sources consider this unlikely, given the level of professionalism, and assume that the chassis was built by a Japanese manufacturer on Honda's behalf. Outwardly, the vehicle was similar to the Footwork FA13 and the Lotus 107 . In the course of the following year and a half, at least two more chassis were built, which were designated as RC 101 and RC 101B. A Honda twelve-cylinder engine of the type 122E / B, which had been used by McLaren in 1992, served as the drive. Satoru Nakajima tested both vehicles. The 101B existed until 2002 when it was introduced to the public in Japan under the designation RC 1.5; the previous two chassis were destroyed in crash tests in 1993 and 1994. The project ended in 1994 when the FIA decided to make substantial rule changes for 1995 in view of the fatal accidents of Roland Ratzenberger and Ayrton Senna at the 1994 San Marino Grand Prix .
In the years that followed, a few more Formula 1 cars were built that were used solely as test vehicles for the Mugen engines and were not developed with the aim of being used in the factory.
In the course of 1998 Honda made another attempt to compete in the Formula 1 World Championship with its own team. The company established a motorsport branch called Honda Racing Developments (HRD) in Surrey, England ; In addition, a factory was opened in Bracknell near London, in which future racing cars were to be built. At the end of 1998, Honda took over a number of employees from the Tyrrell Formula 1 team, which had previously been bought by British American Racing. They included Harvey Postlethwaite , who had been Tyrrell's chief engineer for many years. After the end of the 1998 Formula 1 season, he took over the management of HRD. The aim of the company was the use in the Formula 1 season 2000. The chassis designed by HRD, which bore the designation RA099, were built at Dallara in Parma , Italy , because HRD was not yet ready for use at that time. A total of six vehicles were built, four of which were suitable for racing. A special feature was the attachment of the front wishbone to a double keel; the RA099 was the first Formula 1 car to feature this solution. The RA099 were powered by 1998 specification Mugen engines. The Dutch racing driver Jos Verstappen , himself a former Tyrrell driver, tested the RA099 on several racetracks in early 1999. The first exit took place on December 15, 1998 at the Autodromo Riccardo Paletti in Italy. In later test drives, HRD repeatedly competed against the BAR's cars, which, since many HRD employees had a past with Tyrrell, were seen as immediate competition. Some of the Dallara cars were significantly faster than the BAR 001. In March 1999, however, Honda had increasing concerns about using its own car, which was viewed as too costly. In order to avert the impending termination of the project, Postlethwaite offered the parent company in March 1999 to take over HRD and continue it as a private team. During the period of uncertainty, Postlethwaite suffered a heart attack in April 1999, to which he eventually succumbed. With this in mind, Honda declared the HRD project ended in May 1999 and decided to supply BAR with its own factory engines in the future. Other voices in the press see a different causal link. They attribute Postlethwaite's heart attack to a message brought to him shortly before that the project had ended. It took another six years before Honda finally returned to Formula 1 with the takeover of BAR.
Acquisition of British American Racing
The first pure Honda driver pairing for 38 years were 2006 Jenson Button and that of Ferrari migrated Rubens Barrichello . At the Hungarian Grand Prix , Button took the first win for Team Honda since the comeback in 2000.
In 2007, Honda provided a special feature in Formula 1, because for the first time a team sent a car into the race with the satellite photo of the earth as paint (so-called "Earth Car"). With this, the Honda Group wanted to draw attention to environmental and, above all, climate protection , but at the same time concealed the lack of sponsors. However, the successes of the season fell well short of expectations. Button scored eight points, Barrichello not a single one. The team suffered from multiple engine failures. By the middle of the season, Honda was behind its own customer team, the Super Aguri , which used the same engine but a different chassis.
In September 2007, Honda confirmed Button and Barrichello as drivers for the 2008 season . It was also possible to hire former Ferrari racing director Ross Brawn as team boss for 2008 , whereupon Nick Fry, the previous team boss, rose to be the new managing director. On January 10, 2008 it was announced that Alexander Wurz had been signed as test and reserve driver for the 2008 season. In 2008, the team drove with a special paint job without sponsor stickers to draw attention to environmental protection. But even in the 2008 season you could only occasionally score points in the first half of the season and finished ninth in the constructors' championship with 14 points (11 from Barrichello and 3 from Button). So you could only leave the Super Aguri F1 Team, which without having collected a single point, left Formula 1 after the fourth race, and the Force India F1 Team , which also did not collect any points.
On December 5, 2008, Honda announced that it would withdraw completely from Formula 1 for cost reasons and would no longer compete for the 2009 season . Afterwards, Carlos Slim , Prodrive boss David Richards , Achilleas Kallakis and Virgin Group owner Richard Branson , among others, expressed their interest in buying the team.
In early March 2009, it was announced that former Honda team boss Ross Brawn had bought the team for a symbolic price of one pound . In the 2009 season , the now British team started with the previous drivers, Jenson Button and Rubens Barrichello, as the Brawn GP Formula One Team . The team won the drivers 'and constructors' championships in 2009 with the Brawn BGP 001, which was initially designed as a Honda RA109 . At the beginning of the next season , the racing team was taken over by the German Daimler AG . Since then it has competed under the name Mercedes Grand Prix .
Another comeback as an engine supplier from 2015
2015-2017: Exclusive partnership with McLaren
In May 2013, McLaren and Honda announced at a joint press conference that McLaren would receive engines from Honda from the 2015 season . The first engines were completed in late summer 2014.
After the last Formula 1 race of the 2014 season , McLaren carried out its first test drives with the new engine in Abu Dhabi . For this, the team used a converted MP4-29 , which was given the additional designation H / 1X1. The testing was problematic. Test pilot Stoffel Vandoorne was barely able to drive due to electronic problems: he only completed five individual installation laps on both test days. The longest continuous distance covered in test drives prior to the 2015 season was twelve laps. The difficulties continued throughout the season. The power output of the engine never reached the level of the competition. McLaren's drivers Fernando Alonso and Jenson Button rarely got beyond the first qualifying segment (“Q1”) in qualifying. Up to the Mexican Grand Prix , McLaren-Honda had only four finishes in the points; the best result was Alonso's fifth place in Hungary . Fernando Alonso publicly criticized the poor performance of the Honda engine several times. In a retrospective analysis, Honda confirmed that the complexity of Formula 1 was underestimated and the company was not reacting quickly enough to the poor results due to a lack of experience. In the 2016 season, McLaren-Honda finished sixth in the constructors' championship with 76 points; the best result was a fifth place in the Monaco Grand Prix . In 2017 , Honda took a step backwards. Honda developed a completely new engine, which was considered to be the weakest engine in the field. It was also unreliable. Both in Bahrain and in Russia , technical defects prevented Vandoorne and Alonso from taking part in the races. McLaren scored just 30 championship points this year and fell back to penultimate place in the constructors' championship.
By its own admission, Honda was already interested in equipping more than one team in the near future; a repeatedly discussed engine delivery to Red Bull for the 2016 season was opposed to a veto by McLaren managers Ron Dennis and Éric Boullier , who insisted on the exclusivity of the McLaren-Honda relationship. In April 2017, the parties involved agreed that Honda would also supply the Sauber Motorsport team with engines from 2018 . However, after the management of the team had changed in the meantime, Sauber resigned from this agreement in August 2017.
From 2018: Toro Rosso and Red Bull
In the week leading up to the Singapore Grand Prix in September 2017, Red Bull, Toro Rosso , McLaren, Renault and Honda agreed to swap engines for the 2018 season . McLaren then ended the collaboration with Honda at the end of the 2017 season.
Toro Rosso used Honda engines exclusively in 2018, while McLaren moved into Toro Rosso's position as the Renault customer team. In the first year of the partnership, Toro Rosso scored 33 world championship points and finished the season in ninth place in the constructors' championship. 2018 was an interim year in which Honda adjusted to supplying Toro Rosso's parent team Red Bull Racing, which will come into effect from 2019 . At the 2019 Austrian Grand Prix , Max Verstappen scored the first victory for a car with a Honda engine with his Red Bull RB15 since the manufacturer returned in 2015. Jenson Button's last Honda win was the 2006 Hungarian Grand Prix .
Numbers and dates
Statistics in Formula 1
season | Team name | chassis | engine | tires | Grand Prix | Victories | Second | Third | Poles | nice Round | Points | World Cup rank |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1964 | Honda R&D Co | Honda RA271 | Honda 1.5 V12 | D. | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | 0 | 9. |
1965 | Honda R&D Co | Honda RA272 | Honda 1.5 V12 | G | 8th | 1 | - | - | - | - | 13 | 6th |
1966 | Honda R&D Co | Honda RA273 | Honda 3.0 V12 | G | 3 | - | - | - | - | 1 | 3 | 8th. |
1967 | Honda Racing | Honda RA273 / RA300 | Honda 3.0 V12 | F. | 9 | 1 | - | 1 | - | - | 20th | 4th |
1968 | Honda Racing | Honda RA300 / RA301 / RA302 | Honda 3.0 V12 / 3.0 V8 | F. | 12 | - | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 14th | 6th |
2006 | Lucky Strike Honda Racing F1 Team | Honda RA106 | Honda RA806E 2.4 V8 | M. | 18th | 1 | - | 2 | 1 | - | 86 | 4th |
2007 | Honda Racing F1 Team | Honda RA107 | Honda RA807E 2.4 V8 | B. | 17th | - | - | - | - | - | 6th | 8th. |
2008 | Honda Racing F1 Team | Honda RA108 | Honda RA808E 2.4 V8 | B. | 18th | - | - | 1 | - | - | 14th | 9. |
total | 88 | 3 | 1 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 156 |
All drivers of the Honda team in Formula 1
Surname | Years | Grand Prix | Points | Victories | Second | Third | Poles | nice Round | best WM-Pos. |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Jenson Button | 2006-2008 | 53 | 65 | 1 | - | 2 | 1 | - | 6. ( 2006 ) |
Rubens Barrichello | 2006-2008 | 53 | 41 | - | - | 1 | - | - | 7th ( 2006 ) |
John Surtees | 1967-1968 | 21st | 32 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 4th ( 1967 ) |
Richie Ginther | 1965-1966 | 11 | 14th | 1 | - | - | - | 1 | 7th ( 1965 ) |
Ronnie Bucknum | 1964-1966 | 11 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | 15th ( 1965 ) |
Joakim Bonnier | 1968 | 1 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | 22. ( 1968 ) |
David Hobbs | 1968 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | 29th ( 1968 ) |
Jo Schlesser | 1968 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | 35th ( 1968 ) |
Results in Formula 1
season | chassis | driver | No. |
1 | 2 | 3 | 4th | 5 | 6th | 7th | 8th | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14th | 15th | 16 | 17th | 18th | Points | rank | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1964 | Honda RA271 | 0 | - | |||||||||||||||||||||
R. Bucknum | 13 | DNF | DNF | |||||||||||||||||||||
1965 | Honda RA272 | 11 (13) | 6th | |||||||||||||||||||||
R. Bucknum | DNF | DNF | DNF | DNF | 13 | 5 | ||||||||||||||||||
R. Ginther | DNF | 6th | DNF | DNF | 6th | 14th | 7th | 1 | ||||||||||||||||
1966 | Honda RA272 | 3 | 8th. | |||||||||||||||||||||
R. Bucknum | DNF | 8th | ||||||||||||||||||||||
R. Ginther | DNF | NC | 4th | |||||||||||||||||||||
1967 | Honda RA273 / RA300 | 20th | 4th | |||||||||||||||||||||
J. Surtees | 3 | DNF | DNF | DNF | 6th | 4th | 1 | DNF | 4th | |||||||||||||||
1968 | Honda RA300 / RA301 / RA302 | 14th | 6th | |||||||||||||||||||||
J. Bonnier | 5 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
D. Hobbs | DNF | |||||||||||||||||||||||
J. Schlesser | DNF | |||||||||||||||||||||||
J. Surtees | 8th | DNF | DNF | DNF | DNF | 2 | 5 | DNF | DNF | DNF | 3 | DNF | ||||||||||||
2006 | Honda RA106 | 86 | 4th | |||||||||||||||||||||
R. Barrichello | 11 | 15th | 10 | 7th | 10 | 5 | 7th | 4th | 10 | DNF | 6th | DNF | DNF | 4th | 8th | 6th | 6th | 12 | 7th | |||||
J. Button | 12 | 4th | 3 | 10 * | 7th | DNF | 6th | 11 | DNF | 9 | DNF | DNF | 4th | 1 | 4th | 5 | 4th | 4th | 3 | |||||
2007 | Honda RA107 | 6th | 8th. | |||||||||||||||||||||
J. Button | 7th | 15th | 12 | DNF | 12 | 11 | DNF | 12 | 8th | 10 | DNF | DNF | 13 | 8th | DNF | 11 * | 5 | DNF | ||||||
R. Barrichello | 8th | 11 | 11 | 13 | 10 | 10 | 12 | DNF | 11 | 9 | 11 | 18th | 17th | 10 | 13 | 10 | 15th | DNF | ||||||
2008 | Honda RA108 | 14th | 9. | |||||||||||||||||||||
J. Button | 16 | DNF | 10 | DNF | 6th | 11 | 11 | 11 | DNF | DNF | 17th | 12 | 13 | 15th | 15th | 9 | 14th | 16 | 13 | |||||
R. Barrichello | 17th | DSQ | 13 | 11 | DNF | 14th | 6th | 7th | 14th | 3 | DNF | 16 | 16 | DNF | 17th | DNF | 13 | 11 | 15th |
- Remarks
- ↑ Only from the 1974 Formula 1 season were there fixed start numbers. Previously, the numbers varied from race to race.
Staff overview 2008
Individual evidence
- ↑ Extract from the British Commercial Register
- ↑ Sato: The Honda Myth from 2006, pp. 139 + 140
- ↑ Hamilton: Frank Williams. P. 174.
- ↑ Communication from October 1993.
- ↑ Collins: Unraced, p. 44.
- ↑ Model history at www.forix.autosport.com
- ↑ Collins: Unraced, p. 46.
- ↑ For the history of the double keel, cf. www.motorsport-magazin.com
- ↑ On the whole cf. Collins: Unraced, p. 49 ff.
- ↑ Motorsport aktuell, issue 16/1999.
- ↑ Press release of the Honda group of December 5, 2008 ( Memento of December 6, 2008 in the Internet Archive )
- ↑ "Finally official: Brawn GP starts in Melbourne!" (Motorsport-Total.com on March 6, 2009)
- ↑ Sven Haidinger: Officially: Honda joins McLaren in 2015. Motorsport-Total.com, May 16, 2013, accessed May 16, 2013 .
- ↑ Mario Fritzsche: McLaren's Honda Comeback: The gasoline system causes concern. motorsport-total.com, November 25, 2014, accessed November 26, 2014 .
- ↑ Dominik Sharaf: McLaren defect series remains a mystery: First perseverance slogans. motorsport-total.com, November 26, 2014, accessed on November 27, 2014 .
- ↑ Andreas Reiners: McLaren-Honda: Lack of match practice brought disaster. speedweek.com, February 1, 2016, accessed February 2, 2016 .
- ↑ Norman Fischer: "Never less power": Alonso drills into Honda's deeper wound. Motorsport-Total.com, April 16, 2017, accessed April 30, 2017 .
- ↑ Dieter Rencken, Rebecca Friese: Failure before the race: Alonso doesn't even swear anymore. Motorsport-Total.com, April 30, 2017, accessed April 30, 2017 .
- ^ Mathias Brunner: Éric Boullier on Red Bull: "We are not welfare" . speedweek.com, November 1, 2015, accessed November 1, 2015 .
- ↑ Christian Nimmervoll: Official: Honda will supply the Sauber team from 2018. Motorsport-Total.com, April 30, 2017, accessed April 30, 2017 .
- ^ Mathias Brunner: McLaren: Honda separation, Renault until 2020. speedweek.com, September 15, 2017, accessed on September 15, 2017 .
literature
- Sam S. Collins: Unraced. Formula One's Lost Cars. Veloce, Dorchester 2007, ISBN 978-1-84584-084-6 (English).
- Maurice Hamilton: Frank Williams. The inside story of the man behind the cars. Macmillan, London 1998, ISBN 0-333-71716-3 (English).
- Masaaki Sato: The Honda Myth. The genius and his wake. Vertical, New York 2006, ISBN 978-1-932234-26-8 (English).