Quote Originally Posted by Jag_Warrior View Post
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.