Honda staying in F1

[Rennen]

Clever ole DR...so that's what all that showing off was all about!

[Miss Hardt]

Pfft. Pfft. Pfft.
I am already annoyed.

[neilap]

Hopefully its not just showing off. Maybe there is some real pace there too! Maybe?!

[Stephen Green]

I just hope they do really well this year, if only to shut some of the critics up and to show there is a team after JV.

[ASCII Man]

I hope just the opposite, but that's just because i'm a mean and bitter man.

[DriverT]

I remember a previous thread saying exactly this...

[ASCII Man]

What?
That i'm a mean and bitter man?

[bosch!]

Theres one every year

Good news about Honda though

[Smokey 6 litre]

Originally posted by Stephen Green
I just hope they do really well this year, if only to shut some of the critics up and to show there is a team after JV.

there wasn't a team WITH JV.

[TeddyG]

Originally posted by Stephen Green
I just hope they do really well this year, if only to shut some of the critics up and to show there is a team after JV.

If BAR are much improved this year then they have Villeneuve to thank for a lot of that. He put in the most testing kms of all drivers last year. If BAR are a front runner this year nobody can honestly say that JB and Sato (with JV only being out for 4 months) are the sole drivers responsible for any real gain in performance.
Without JV there would be no BAR, Pollock was the one who hired Willis and it is mostly this decision that has allowed BAR to slowly improve.

That said I sort of hope the BAR is a real contender this year. JV will then have realised his dream of building a race winning team from scratch...it'll just be sad that he won't get to reap the rewards of his hard work.

[RWC]

sounds like you are perpetuating pollocks mistake-that a 'great' driver is all the team needs.
We've seen that one proved waaaay wrong over the last...how many years?

[BARrouette]

Let's wait and see if this will be BAR-Honda best year...
I dont think so, not with Sato...

[Mr V]

Originally posted by TeddyG
If BAR are much improved this year then they have Villeneuve to thank for a lot of that.

IF BAR are much improved this season, then that means thet weren't up to scratch before, and they have Villeneuve to thank for a lot of that too

[BARrouette]

For shure it will be Button best f1 season.

[Mr V]

Given that Sato only scored 2 points in 2002 then 3 points in his only apperence in 2003, i'm confident in saying that this will also be Sato's best season (so far). Ergo, this could quite easily be BAR-Honda's best season in F1 so far

[neilap]

Not only could this be their best but it should be. Though I am biased, I am not blind. The team has not done anything to really warrant praise from anyone. Suzuka alone is not enough to say they have made big steps. The pace they had there should have been all year not just at Hondas home. Honda always takes a chance with their motors in Suzuka, making it the best motor of the year. The current one is supposed to be even better than the SS; lighter, lower COG and more powerful! Now it needs to be much more reliable. Even though the motor was not the cause of the majority of their failures. Buttons USGP, made up for all the gearbox failures

Honda is determined to stay in F1, win races and titles. They have tested more this year than ever. This motor was one of the first finished products of all the teams. They were the first team to finish a race distance on a single motor. In fact they were the last to leave Silverstone. If they cant beat teams like Renault this year (even if not in points but at least in some races) then either Honda or BAR really needs to put their money somewhere else. I will always be supportive of Hondas efforts but its a lot of wasted energy if its all for naught.

[Rennen]

Well!...I do recall JV...requesting that Honda build a lighter engine...but he's not in any way responsible for the huge leaps forward made by GWs chassis and aero designs or DRs management, nor their decision to change to Michelins!

Having said that!...Renault appear to have made a vast step too!...as all things are relative, BAR may still only be the 5th quickest team!?...But I doubt it.

[TeddyG]

Originally posted by Rennen
Well!...I do recall JV...requesting that Honda build a lighter engine...but he's not in any way responsible for the huge leaps forward made by GWs chassis and aero designs or DRs management, nor their decision to change to Michelins!

Well! If you want to put it like that then Shumacher is in no way responsible for any of the chassis' Rory Bryne has produced either! DR's management? Please...the only thing he has done is make the switch to Michelin's and Jacques was bashing Bridgestone all year for giving Ferrari preferential treatment, so you really think JV had nothing to do with that decision either?

The only thing DR has done is ruin the career of the only other currently active WDC in F1. The fact that JV doesn't have a drive after the piece of **** car Richards gave him (only allowing him to finish 6 of the 17 races) is pathetic to say the least about F1, and it's why I won't be watching this farce of a sport until he is given another shot.