Thoughts on current F1 Regulations

[Rollo]

What the heck is going on with this "new" Honda? What happened to the "old" Honda???

Honda is the same Honda.

Honda always want to meddle and fiddle with the teams they supply/operate.

In 1987 when they supplied Williams and Lotus with engines, they then withdrew their support of Williams and followed Senna to McLaren. Williams made do unsuccessfully with Judd power in 1988.
For five years Honda ruled the roost as an engine supplier and from 1989 to 1992 when they were roundly beaten, they refused to supply anyone who challenged their chance at being the Constructors' and Drivers' Champions. Then in 1993, they took their bat and ball and went home.

From 2000-2005 they supplied Jordan and BAR with engines but when Eddie Jordan started to demand things from them, they dumped Jordan in the muck and progressively bought up BAR, meddling and fiddling with it as they went, before driving it into the ground in 2008.
The extent of their meddling was proven when in 2009, Honda left and Brawn won the championship. I have no doubt that Honda leaving is what saved Brawn. I have also no doubt that Honda showing up and meddling and fiddling with McLaren is what's killing them now.

Aside:
In bike racing, HRC were successful in fiddling with their NSR 500 until it won World Championships but I suspect that the engineers who worked on bikes never spoke to people working on engines. Friday clubs are weird beasts - Keiretsu, Kinyokai, Zaibatsu etc.

[AndyL]

Aside:
In bike racing, HRC were successful in fiddling with their NSR 500 until it won World Championships but I suspect that the engineers who worked on bikes never spoke to people working on engines. Friday clubs are weird beasts - Keiretsu, Kinyokai, Zaibatsu etc.

I don't think Honda is really a Keiretsu company in the way that most other Japanese car-makers are. It's a company founded more in the western mould, by a man in a shed, and built up from nothing. I wonder if the tendencies you've observed are because of that, or despite it. And whether things changed after Soichiro handed over the reins.

There was one guy who Honda were sufficiently in awe of (and/or sufficiently baffled by) to just hand over the machinery he asked for and let him get on with things in his own way; he rewarded them with 24 Isle of Man TT wins. But very much a unique case.

[Jag_Warrior]

Honda is the same Honda.

Honda always want to meddle and fiddle with the teams they supply/operate.

Yes, that part may still be true. But my observation is based more on their ability (or lack thereof) to plan and execute. And at least here in the States, even their marketing has become much less focused and edgy. I've been out of automotive for going on three years now and I've lost touch with a great many of the people who used to feed me "what's what" industry news (people have this odd tendency of retiring and/or dying, it seems). But this trend that I *think* I see in Honda really did start some time ago. From passenger cars (although the quality is still quite good) to racing, this "new" Honda seems to have lost a step.

Anyway, I do hope they get it turned around. I'm not so much a Honda fan, but I would like to see all of the manufacturers being competitive.

[Rollo]

But this trend that I *think* I see in Honda really did start some time ago. From passenger cars (although the quality is still quite good) to racing, this "new" Honda seems to have lost a step.

They've done all right in the BTCC with Shedden taking out the championship and in the WTCC, nothing can stop the Citroën juggernaut. They're putting in a decent showing in Super GT with Izawa and Yamamoto in the NSX as well - currently 2nd.

Honda's F1 program like Renault's suffers from the problem that if you have a bad package, they rules basically prevent you from improving. This suits M-B and Ferrari nicely and Renault might up stumps because of it. Honda started a year late and are on a hiding to nothing.