What About Honda

[Hawkmoon]

Hawkmoon, your history is a bit off. There was this fellow named John Young Stewart, who won in 1969 (Matra - Tyrell was only an entrant then). And Tyrell was actually a come-and-gone contender whose days as a serious contender didn't outlast Sir Jackie.

The real end of the era of new, strong teams was the end of the Cosworth Ford as a serious contender in 1982. Before then, teams like Tyrell and Williams could get a start with a reasonable engine at a reasonable price. Now it takes the GDP of a mid-sized developed nation to launch a mid-field team. Benetton was a bit of a fluke in this area, but they had scads of money and, like Tyrrell, managed to get ahold of the best driver of the time at a critical moment for the team.

ClarkFan

I know technically Matra were the '69 champions but Uncle Ken and Wee Jackie were the principal members of the team that would win for Tyrrell over the next few seasons so I figured it was essentially the same team, just under a different guise.

If you want to leave Tyrrell out it just makes my point stronger. Benetton/Renault are the only team in decades who have been able to win a title. Lotus and Brabham are sadly confined to the record books and nobody has risen to replace them.

That same Benetton team that nabbed Schumi also won the title with Cosworth power in '94 so it was still possible to win with Cosworth power afer '82. OK, it was highly unlikely, but possible none-the-less.

If Honda and BMW want to win the title anytime soon that had better hope that Button and Kubica are another JYS or Schumi.

I've got news for 'em. Button and Kubica aren't even close.

[jens]

If even Honda's head propagandist Nick Fry isn't hyping them up, then it seems pretty strange. :

But yeah, it seems to be a typical Honda season. Probably they'll fight with their own country's rival Toyota for 5th-6th position in case they can find some form in the second half of the season.

[jens]

http://f1.gpupdate.net/en/news/2007/...nda_is_behind/

Hmm, at last Honda seems to have started to acknowledge their real position...