HONDA F1

The Honda Racing F1 Team is delighted to announce that it has signed 16 year old British karting star Will Stevens under a long-term driver support agreement.
Will Stevens said, “I am extremely proud to be joining the Honda Racing F1 Team and this provides me with a great opportunity to progress my career towards my goal of reaching Formula One. I would like to thank everyone who has helped me so far in my career and especially Honda for their commitment and support of my future.. I intend to do my very best to ensure that their belief in me is rewarded.”

Hi all,

I read somewhere that Honda will be sporting a special livery at the Turkish Grand Prix to celebrate Rubens' milestone of becoming the most experienced Formula One driver ever.

I know Rubens will be having a special helmet but I was just wondering if there is any truth in the special livery and what would it look like??

"Jenson got a great start but unfortunately the puncture put him out of contention. His early pace was very competitive though, matching the front runners. Rubens lost time following Fisichella but otherwise he had the pace to score points. Both our qualifying and race pace are gradually improving race by race as we continue to work on the set-up.

"We have a four-day test in Barcelona where we will evaluate our major aero upgrade. Obviously most teams will also be making improvements however we hope our step will be larger than most. We also have a straight-line test in Menorca to measure the new aero package full size."

After a promising performance in qualifying, the Honda Racing F1 Team’s Bahrain Grand Prix was rather more frustrating. Rubens Barrichello brought his RA108 home in 11th position whilst Jenson Button was forced to retire at one-third distance. Rubens ran in 12th position for the opening stint of the race.

The Honda Racing F1 Team now has a three-week gap before the next race, the Spanish Grand Prix on 27 April. The teams RA108's will return briefly to the factory in Brackley, Befor a four-day test at Barcelona in Spain where the team will test its latest major aero upgrade.
"Obviously most teams will also be making improvements," said Team Principle Ross brawn, "However we hope our step will be larger than most. Also we have a straight line test in menorca to measure the new aero package full size. Both our qualifying and race pace are gradually improving race by race as we continue to work on the set-up."

After a promising performance in qualifying yesterday, the Honda Racing F1 Team endured a frustrating Bahrain Grand Prix. Jenson Button retired from the race at one-third distance, while Rubens Barrichello brought home his RA108 in 11th position.

As a huge JB fan, I'll join the chorus and note that, yes, it is indeed great to see Jens in Q3. And yes, seeing him beat Alonso is particularly satisfying - watching them duke it out through the first few laps in cars that are roughly equal should be interesting!

Looking at each driver's fastest sector times in qualifying, Alonso was .066s quicker in the first sector (two straights), Jens took the second (twistier, one short straight) sector by .082s and the third sector (two straights) is .033s in Alonso's favor.

Unfortunately, the RA108 seems a bit 'slow' (at around 300 km/h, 'slow' is a relative term of course) at the end of the main straight through the speed trap: 300-ish km/h for Honda, 307-ish for Renault and 315-ish for Ferrari.