F1: Honda fight to save their season

[Rory Phoulorie]

Tuesday 10th April 2007

Honda's ghastly start to the 2007 season looks set to lead to drastic changes within the team, including an all-new car in time for the Canadian Grand Prix.

Following on the heels of news that Honda are eager to sign Ferrari's technical director Ross Brawn, whose future is currently up in the air, comes the news that Nick Fry is keen to introduce a new car and restructure the team's personnel.

Honda have struggled with the aerodynamic package of their RA107, which is unstable under braking and hard on its rear tyres. And although the team has tried changes to both the rear and the front, their terrible form continued in Malaysia.

With little sign of improvement or ways for Honda to up the pace of the RA107, The Times reports that the team is now looking to introduce an all-new car in time for mid-June's Canadian GP. According to one report, the new car will be "a complete revamp of the RA107 concept."

Jenson Button hinted at the work going on, saying: "There's a lot happening back at the factory. It's actually very exciting.

"It's not a position any of us want to be in - so far back - but it's really exciting back at the base. There is so much going on, so many new ideas, so many things going into the wind tunnel.

"It's all very positive. It's a pity we didn't realise earlier what our issues were."

The changes, though, won't stop there.

The newspaper reports that Fry has proposed a new structure that would 'create a fully integrated British-based team at the factory in Brackley and do away with the present set-up whereby about 550 people work in Britain while a further 250 engineers and experts in aerodynamics are working on related projects in Japan.

'It is understood that Fry has put this politically sensitive plan to senior management in Tokyo.

http://www.planet-f1.com/story/0,18954,3213_2049181,00.html