Honda to quit F1? - Now with added Brawn GP

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Maybe Sato could get a drive alongside Button then?

There isn't enough time left to modify the car for Mercedes engines unless they started that a while ago so I think they would be better off with Honda engines.

They haven't appeared anywhere for testing either (unless someone knows better) so I reckon they would be well off the pace by the time of the first race which is now only 36 days away.
 
PeterJB
The livery would be pretty good. I imagine to be something like this.

PicForNewsletterMay2006VirginTrain.JPG
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:ill: I can just see it now:

"We apologise for the delay, Ladies and Gentlemen - Jenson was due to arrive in Parc Fermé at 1535, but will now be arriving at approximately 1550. We apologise for any inconvenience caused and look forward to your support again sometime soon."
 
I think I've just heard Vision Solar (aka "Carlos Kavros") explode.
 
Touring Mars
:ill: I can just see it now:

"We apologise for the delay, Ladies and Gentlemen - Jenson was due to arrive in Parc Fermé at 1535, but will now be arriving at approximately 1550. We apologise for any inconvenience caused and look forward to your support again sometime soon."
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Engine Failures every race!
 
Or:

"And there's Jenson Button in a Virgin! Surely not an unfamilier experience for him..."
 
Roo
Or:

"And there's Jenson Button in a Virgin! Surely not an unfamilier experience for him..."
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:lol:

button_gr.jpg


"I was beat, incomplete
I'd been had, I was sad and blue
But you made me feel
Yeah, you made me feel
Shiny and new"​
 
I don't think it's so much a deadline as it is more of a date by which they should finalise any deal if they want to stand a reasonable chance of having a full package in time for Melbourne. Otherwise they run the risk of becoming another Super Aguri.
 
Tired Tyres
Maybe Sato could get a drive alongside Button then?

There isn't enough time left to modify the car for Mercedes engines unless they started that a while ago so I think they would be better off with Honda engines.

They haven't appeared anywhere for testing either (unless someone knows better) so I reckon they would be well off the pace by the time of the first race which is now only 36 days away.
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Forgive me, but haven't they almost always been well off the 'pace', hm? In my opinion, Honda is a case study in how not to run a F1 team anywhere except for into the ground. With their lavish expenditures, hundreds of 'team' members, and leadership by committee, they should have succeeded long ago, right? In my view they never invested quality dollars in quality drivers who could help develop their dreams...
 
mustang245
Forgive me, but haven't they almost always been well off the 'pace', hm? In my opinion, Honda is a case study in how not to run a F1 team anywhere except for into the ground. With their lavish expenditures, hundreds of 'team' members, and leadership by committee, they should have succeeded long ago, right? In my view they never invested quality dollars in quality drivers who could help develop their dreams...
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The drivers would be the last people I'd blame for this team's performance since changing their name from BAR.
Are you really going to say Barrichello is not a quality driver? Button I can perhaps understand, but then he's not that bad....he isn't good for the money required to hire him but he isn't a bad driver.

But yes, I agree up until 2008 the team was a mess, Ross Brawn was looking like he was going to fix the team up for 2009, and that may still happen. In my view they should have changed how they run the team....but then they did, by hiring Ross Brawn assumedly with the intention of changing the team around for the better.
 
Ardius
The drivers would be the last people I'd blame for this team's performance since changing their name from BAR.
Are you really going to say Barrichello is not a quality driver? Button I can perhaps understand, but then he's not that bad....he isn't good for the money required to hire him but he isn't a bad driver.

But yes, I agree up until 2008 the team was a mess, Ross Brawn was looking like he was going to fix the team up for 2009, and that may still happen. In my view they should have changed how they run the team....but then they did, by hiring Ross Brawn assumedly with the intention of changing the team around for the better.
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No, I'm not blaming the drivers for the mess... Honda could apparently afford anyone, though. Drivers with strong development skills, certainly. Or perhaps Honda didn't listen to the drivers they had?
 
Honda gave up on 2008 very early on to concentrate on the 2009 car. Since they've had such a long time to develop the new car, there is a good chance that it might be quick.

There's an equal chance that it's slow of course, but by not testing it they are not helping themselves.

If they could return some good lap times at a test it would perhaps help sell the team.
 
Tired Tyres
Honda gave up on 2008 very early on to concentrate on the 2009 car. Since they've had such a long time to develop the new car, there is a good chance that it might be quick.
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Very much so. Word in pit lane was that they'd managed to make a workable KERS unit well before anyone else got to the point where they had prototypes ready for testing.

Of course, it doesn't help that Honda appointed Shuei Nakamoto as lead designer. The man was quite clearly out of his depth; even Honda's staff were openly saying it on race weekends.
 
Honda Racing are gearing up to begin pre-season testing ahead of the Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne, autosport.com can reveal.

Despite no confirmation that a buyer has been found to secure the future of the Brackley-based outfit, autosport.com has learned that with the 2009 car now ready, team personnel have been instructed to get ready to go testing.

It is not clear whether the preparations are advanced enough for the outfit to be in a position to run at next week's group test at Jerez, but at the latest the team should be able to join the final major get-together at Barcelona later next month.

There is also the possibility that the team could conduct a shakedown in the United Kingdom prior to any testing on the continent.

There has been no official confirmation from Honda on plans to test, nor has there been any further official news on the future of the outfit since Honda CEO Takeo Fukui said earlier this week that he could see no 'serious buyer' for the outfit.

As autosport.com reported earlier this week, it still appears that the most likely outcome is a management buy-out led by team principal Ross Brawn.

Sources suggest that the only other potential bidder for the team was informed in the last 24 hours that they had been unsuccessful.

A Brawn buyout would be funded by finance from the Honda Motor Company, television rights money from Bernie Ecclestone, plus sponsorship income that could come from signing Bruno Senna.

The involvement of Honda's CEO Nick Fry in the buyout remains unclear - with widespread conjecture suggesting that he will not be involved in the takeover. However, sources have told autosport.com that talk of his departure from the team is 'speculation'.
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Source: http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/73425

I'm pretty sceptical about this news, but I guess time will tell. I've also heard a rumour of the team booking Silverstone for a test session.
 
mustang245
No, I'm not blaming the drivers for the mess... Honda could apparently afford anyone, though. Drivers with strong development skills, certainly. Or perhaps Honda didn't listen to the drivers they had?
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They could've listened all they wanted - but with the whole technical staff was incompetent, the engineers can only do this much to setup a terrible car. The aerodynamics of both the RA07 and the RA08 were monumentally awful - and coupled with a sub-par engine (Honda's post-freeze V8s were down on power and weren't developed further) and average-at-best chassis dynamics, it could only beat a three year old Jordan car (The 2005 Jordan only got small aerodynamic tweaks to become the Midland, Spyker and then Force India cars) and last year's Honda after it's funding and development ceased.

Tired Tyres
Honda gave up on 2008 very early on to concentrate on the 2009 car. Since they've had such a long time to develop the new car, there is a good chance that it might be quick.
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They said mid-2007 that they're quitting the RA07 to focus on the RA08, and look where that got them. :P

Do you race?
Very much so. Word in pit lane was that they'd managed to make a workable KERS unit well before anyone else got to the point where they had prototypes ready for testing.

Of course, it doesn't help that Honda appointed Shuei Nakamoto as lead designer. The man was quite clearly out of his depth; even Honda's staff were openly saying it on race weekends.
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BMW Sauber were the first to have a working KERS system - by a long shot. Williams and Honda were "second-placed" in the KERS-race, but both of them hit major snags: Honda's obvious collapse, and Williams just couldn't get it to work that well (they have a unique flywheel-based system), and will now line up at Melbourne without it.
 
Adding to Jackington's post:

"Staff at Honda's Brackley headquarters have been told to prepare for imminent winter tests in Spain and subsequently the beginning of the 2009 season in Australia.

"Everything's positive - it's all going ahead. Contracts are agreed and signed. It's with the lawyers," an unnamed source at the team told BBC Sport.
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Source: http://en.f1-live.com/f1/en/headlines/news/detail/090226085037.shtml

So, the rumour is spreading, there must be some truth in it.
 
:lol: That's an internet rumour is it? :lol:

seriously, I read that on the BBC site earlier so hopefully some good news soon.

It would be so funny if they are a second a lap faster that anyone else. I wonder how Honda would feel then?
 
Like they were in a dream. Which they would probably wake up from with the realisation that they've just blown an engine.
 
Tired Tyres
It would be so funny if they are a second a lap faster that anyone else. I wonder how Honda would feel then?
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That would possibly trump Brazil 2008 as one of those amazing "you can't script this stuff" moments.
Sadly, I think we all realise the distinct lack of testing time is going to really hurt them and the change of engine will take extra testing too.
If they get to testing next week or soon at least, they might at least be up to speed and perhaps ahead of Force India.....
 
The sports reporter on Breakfast TV on the BBC this morning said the management buyout option is the one nearly completed.
 
PeterJB
So Honda are being bought out by Honda?
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No, as in the management of the team is buying the team out.....Honda themselves didn't manage the team, only owned them and gave them things.

Nick Fry and Ross Brawn in other words are buying the team (although I recently heard Fry wouldn't be buying it, it would be a Brawn led-take over).
 

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