Issue 58

HONDA MAG 58
Formula 1® special Edition
march 2015
Honda returns to f1
Honda and McLaren rejoin forces
Introduction
Ron Dennis: Consumed by the challenge
The McLaren-Honda MP4-30
The RA615H Power unit components
The MP4-30 Chassis in detail
F1’s marathon man: Jenson Button Back to a different future: Fernando Alonso
If Honda does not race,
there is no Honda.
Soichiro Honda
6
8
14
16
19
20
24
The First Era: 1964 to 1968
There was a lot going on in 1964
The first red letter day
The return to power: 1966 and all that
The quiet American: Richie Ginther The English all-rounder: John Surtees
28
30
32
34
35
The Second Era: 1983 to 1992
Power behind the throne
Williams-Honda World Champions
The Dream Team:
The first McLaren-Honda Partnership, 1988-92
36
38
40
The Third Era: 2000 to 2008
Just because Honda loves racing
On the Button: The high-point of the third era
44
48
The F1 world in 2015
20 years of Grand Prix racing in Melbourne
The season ahead: A developing world
NSX – A supercar evolved
NSX – Honda’s return to power
Honda F1 flash back
HR-V: Honda off the track
This year, Honda is just as exciting off the track
Statistical Digest
Honda’s F1 record
facebook.com/HondaAustraliaCars
youtube.com/HondaAustralia
pinterest.com/HondaCars
twitter.com/Honda_Australia
Editor: Stuart Sykes; Executive Editor: Paul Harley; Design: Cassie Dalton.
All photos were supplied by LAT photo, latphoto.co.uk. All other images are owned by Honda unless otherwise specified.
For general enquiries regarding Honda motor vehicle products or services, contact Honda Australia on 1800 804 954.
50
51
54
56
58
62
Things to see and do in Melbourne on GP weekend
Food70
Battle of the burgers
72
Shop74
Play76
The speaker is Yasuhisa Arai, Senior Managing Officer of Honda R&D,
on the day the new McLaren-Honda MP4-30 is shown off for the first time.
Arai-san is right: not every day – but it isn’t the first time Honda has enjoyed
the sense of excitement he describes.
Three times before Honda has experienced the shock of the new: in 1964,
when the company made its Formula 1 debut, in 1983 when it entered the
turbo-charged fray again, and in 2000 when it marked the end of the
twentieth century with a brave decision to back a team that seemed
like potential champions for the twenty-first.
Introduction
Sixty years have come and gone since the company’s founder, Soichiro Honda,
first launched his products on to the world racing stage. They were two-wheeled
at first but by May 1962 the decision had been taken to take Honda into Formula 1.
Japan’s youngest car company was about to take on the old-established legends
of European racing…
The rest, as they say, is history. Honda’s name is synonymous with some of the
finest moments ever seen in Grand Prix racing, both as a constructor and as the
supplier of engines to F1’s most successful teams.
The finest steel, they say, is tempered in the hottest flame: the technical crucible
of F1 has forged the engineering genius that underpins one of the world’s most
innovative manufacturers.
With another new dawn on the horizon, the return of Honda revives one of the
most thrilling partnerships in the six and a half decades of World Championship
racing. The McLaren-Honda MP4-30 is the latest creation to face the challenge
Honda relishes most: competing against the best and coming out on top.
As Yasuhisa Arai also observed, “We’re about to commence a long season, with
numerous challenges, but Honda is determined to face them head-on. After all,
we’re here to drive Formula 1’s technology forward and give our fans a thrilling ride.”
“It’s not every day that you’re involved
in a launch of a new Formula 1 car and
the start-up of a new partnership”
Consumed by
the challenge
The goodwill is reciprocated.
The Formula 1 landscape has changed
radically since the McLaren-Honda
partnership dominated. Can these two
giants of Grand Prix racing become
the sport’s leading force once more?
Timothy Collings asked the man who
should know: McLaren boss Ron Dennis.
At 67, Dennis remains a formidable figure
in Formula 1, a man whose achievements
and sustained success set the standard.
“How long have we known each other?”
he asks. “It’s a long time...”
Monza, September 6, 2014: Twenty-four
hours before the Italian Grand Prix,
an annual celebration of motor racing
passions at a venue synonymous with
drama and speed, all is calm at the
McLaren Brand Centre, the racing
team’s paddock headquarters.
The answer is 27 years and, thankfully
for your correspondent, he was not at all
displeased to learn of the passage of so
much time; or to be reminded of the balmy
afternoon in the same royal park, in 1987,
when McLaren had announced their original
union with Honda and that amazing driver
pairing of Alain Prost and Ayrton Senna.
Lunch is over. Guests sip hot and cold
drinks and glance across an open atrium
at giant screens broadcasting live pictures
of the action at the Autodromo Nazionale.
“Yes, of course,” he recalled. And do you
have good memories of that day? I asked.
Upstairs, in an office overlooking the crowds
milling outside rival team motor-homes,
Ron Dennis stands and, then, strides towards
me. A broad smile and firm handshake
swiftly follow. “You haven’t changed at all,”
says the Chairman of McLaren Automotive
and Chairman and Chief Executive Officer
of the McLaren Group.
10
“Yes, that announcement, within the
grounds of the royal park, but just
outside the gates of the paddock, was
the conclusion of a very long series of
discussions and negotiations to ensure
the continued success of the team. It was
a carefully considered strategy, which
secured us a partnership with the most
successful and pioneering engine
manufacturer in Grand Prix racing,
and forged for us a relationship with
the most exciting and talented driver
the sport has ever known.
“The effort and attention that we placed
on those preparations went on to serve
us very well: we created a partnership
that brought us unprecedented success
– indeed, McLaren and Honda won
44 out of the 80 Grands Prix we
contested together, and that’s more
than a 50 per cent success rate.
“And, now, here we are again, by
coincidence, back at Monza, the very
place where we announced that
relationship with Honda in 1987.”
It seems extraordinary that 27 years
have passed and once again McLaren
and Honda are to be a partnership in
Formula 1. Dennis, clearly, is excited
at the prospect and stimulated by
their past glories.
“The unusual thing about that
announcement, perhaps, was that it
was devoid of all branding and took
place inside the Philip Morris unit,
outside the circuit grounds, which
enabled us to avoid any embarrassment
either for Lotus, for whom Ayrton was
driving at the time, or for our engine
partners TAG Turbo.
“And, of course, it was here again that
we collected another statistic to
remember – or maybe to forget – in
1988. What a start we had in that first
year when we won 15 of 16 races in the
first season of the partnership! The only
race we didn’t win was the Italian
Grand Prix, here at Monza, ironically,
when Ayrton was leading three laps from
the finish only to be wrong-footed by
Jean-Louis Schlesser at the chicane
and end up stranded across a kerb.
“Of course, Monza being Monza, there
weren’t too many marshals rushing to
help him back into the race! It worked
for them, too, since it was Gerhard
Berger who went on to win the race
in a Ferrari... And, you know, to this day
I mercilessly pull Jean-Louis’ leg every
time I meet him in the course of our
motor racing travels!”
11
Honda and McLaren
rejoin forces
Ron Dennis
Clearly, they were memorable days and that
was a memorable season. Now, McLaren
are at the threshold of another partnership
with Honda. What were the challenges
then and what are the challenges this time?
Does it feel different? How much progress
has been made?
“I think there were many challenges,
as always in Formula 1. But our initial
objective with Honda was to try to bridge
the cultural gap that exists between our
two countries – differences that also
existed in the way we worked together.
“I think one of the strategies that became
very successful as a method of relaxing the
atmosphere was the use of humour – and
that, of course, was easier to achieve with
Ayrton and Gerhard [Berger], because
Gerhard was such a fun-loving practical
joker, than it had been with Ayrton and
Alain before that. The Honda guys initially
seemed somewhat bemused by it, but
eventually they realised that, while working
hard was always paramount, it was also
important to relax and form friendships.”
“I think we were very successful in quickly
establishing a deep level of trust and
understanding. Nonetheless, we faced
many challenges from our rivals, who
quickly grew suspicious that our successes
during that ’88 season could not have been
achieved by fair means. For instance, we
had to endure never-ending scrutiny of our
fuel tank, because the other teams simply
couldn’t believe we were achieving our
performance within the legal fuel limits.
“Now, together, I want us to collaborate
on the creation of a deep understanding
of each company’s mindset and culture,
both on and off the circuit. We must do
that together, because mutual empathy
leads to enhanced combined productivity.
With that in mind, I intend that a
team-building process be hard-wired
into our modus operandi, and indeed
that’s already taking place.
“Elsewhere, we faced the internal challenge of
managing the relationship of our drivers – two
of the best ever to be in the same team at
one time. I look back at that with some pride
and feel it was reasonably well done. Granted,
it could have been done better – that’s true of
anything and indeed it’s a mantra that serves
to motivate our entire organisation – but, by
and large, it was disciplined and well
contained within the team.”
In 1988, Senna won the drivers’ world title
with 90 points (from his 11 best results),
ahead of Prost on 87. In the constructors’
championship McLaren were winners with
199 points, a long way ahead of Ferrari on
65. It was a season of profound McLaren
domination and a red-hot rivalry between
their drivers, a fight between teammates
that remains legendary to this day.
The Honda partnership with McLaren
made a deep mark that year.
12
“In the past 20 years, the internet – and
in particular the growth of social media
and the new ways in which people now
experience moving images – have changed
the way in which media, consumers and
fans perceive brands. However, despite that,
the true essence of a company as great as
Honda remains: I’m glad to say that it’s
already clear from our discussions that
the innovative engineering ethos of
Mr. Honda lives on, and that the company
he founded is still a world leader in the field
of state-of-the-art engine technology.
Specifically, in a McLaren-Honda context,
it relishes, and will continue to relish, the
challenge of synchronising and optimising
the integration and interaction of ERS, KERS
and a turbocharged 1.6-litre V6 engine.
2015 (from left) Honda R&D Co., Ltd. Senior Managing Officer, Chief Officer of Motor Sport
Yasuhisa Arai; Honda Motor Co., Ltd. President; Chief Executive Officer and Representative Director
Takanobu Ito, McLaren-Honda driver Fernando Alonso; McLaren-Honda driver Jenson Button;
and McLaren Technology Group Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Ron Dennis.
“We’ll achieve a lot together, of that I’m
certain, and, as I say, familiarity with and
knowledge of each other’s working
practices will expedite that. When we
worked together in the 1980s and ’90s,
Honda was a multinational and multilateral
corporation whereas McLaren was a more
parochial single-discipline company
focused on Formula 1 alone. Since that
time, McLaren has grown and diversified
significantly, and we’re now truly global
too. We have car dealerships all over the
world, and divisional offices in Asia as
well as America. McLaren Automotive
and McLaren Applied Technologies are
leading that charge. Honda is still an order
of magnitude larger than McLaren – of
course it is – but the delta between our
cultural outlooks has narrowed, which can
only be a good thing.
“Having said that, Formula 1 teams must be
lean and nimble, and during the course of
the past few months we’ve been making
changes at McLaren that will achieve that.
We’re seeing the fruits of that restructuring
work already.
“All in all, I firmly believe we’re now better
equipped than ever to work together.”
13
Honda and McLaren
rejoin forces
It is time to look forward. What has changed?
Is it merely technological or more complex?
Sooner? When? What does that mean –
and what is success? And will the new
partnership with Honda lead to competitive
technological innovation?
“Next year, though, our first season of our
new partnership with Honda, the technical
regulations will remain relatively stable. So,
now, together, we have the time to look into
areas in which innovation and lateral thinking
will increase our competitiveness. We’ll do
that in a rigorous and disciplined way, so as
to add real value to a sound and solid
engineering-based strategy. Our first aim
is to establish a good base performance
from the power unit, and a solid, reliable
and driveable aero package ahead of the
first race. With those principles established,
we can then start to think about how
strategy and optimal deployment of ERS
and KERS will add supplementary benefits.”
“I’m reluctant to make predictions, but,
based on all that I know, I see no reason
why we won’t begin to move forward
relatively rapidly,” said Dennis. “It’s a
difficult thing to predict, as we don’t know
how much progress other teams will make
before the start of next season, though.
“But I can state that, at no point in the
dialogue that has taken place between our
two companies, have we even sought to
pinpoint a time-frame for the attainment
of on-track success. Clearly, our objective
is to try to win our first Grand Prix together.
That’s a big challenge, but is it an unrealistic
one? I’d prefer to call it an ambitious one.
So it’ll be difficult, yes, but not impossible.
To be clear, I’m not saying it’ll happen; what
I’m saying is that we’ll strive to make it
happen, which is a subtly different thing.”
“The key to turning a modern Formula 1
organisation from a good team to a great one
is understanding and exploiting every single
performance element of the car and the
team,” he adds. “In all my time in Formula 1,
I honestly don’t think there has been an era
in which the relationship between engine
and chassis has required such a high level
of focus and integration – it’s a tremendous
challenge, but a hugely satisfying one.
But we’re consumed by that challenge,
and we relish it.”
Another broad smile signals the end.
It may be nearly three decades since
Honda and McLaren initiated their last
partnership, but it is easy to sense the
alchemy. Like your correspondent,
Dennis may be a few years older,
but he has lost none of the inner
drive. Team directors up and down
the Formula 1 pit lane should
beware. This is a partnership
being designed and built to win.
Honda and McLaren
rejoin forces
“Loyalty is extremely important to me –
to everyone at McLaren – so I want to
emphasise that we’ve had a very successful
partnership with Mercedes-Benz. They’ve
been a fantastically loyal partner for many
years – and we’re determined to bring
the curtain down on our partnership in the
best possible way: by bringing each other
more success.
Having been briefed that this interview
was unlikely to be filled with detailed
answers revealing the secrets surrounding
the schedule of development, testing and
performances of the prototype work
leading to 2015, it was still imperative
to prod for answers.
There are visitors, including Alain Prost,
waiting outside the office. The Frenchman
looks little different. His hair may be a bit
grey, but he has the same slight physique
and his silhouette, seen through the window
blinds, is a reminder that 27 years may have
passed, but 2015 is almost upon us. Dennis
is aware it is time to wrap things up.
Aware of how such ambitions could be
interpreted, or misinterpreted, he added:
oyalty is extremely
L
important to me – to
everyone at McLaren
14
15
Ron Dennis
The
McLaren-Honda
MP4-30
Why?
Honda and McLaren
rejoin forces
It’s a simple question but in the answer lies a mass of detail. Why is
Honda back in Formula 1? A detailed examination of the car that will
carry the company’s colours once more should help us understand
why Honda is back – and back in partnership with McLaren.
When the announcement was made in May 2013, Takanobu
Ito, President and CEO of Honda Motor Company, offered
the clearest explanation.
“Honda has a long history of advancing our technologies
and nurturing our people by participating in the world’s
most prestigious automobile racing series. The new F1
regulations [for 2014 and beyond] with their significant
environmental focus will inspire even greater
development of our own advanced technologies
and this is central to our participation in F1.”
“We have the greatest respect for the FIA’s
decision to introduce these new regulations
that are both highly challenging but also
attractive to manufacturers that pursue
environmental technologies.”
Honda’s previous partnership with
McLaren embraced three successful
engine configurations: 1.5-litre turbo
V6, 3-5-litre naturally-aspirated V10
and 3.5-litre naturally-aspirated V12.
The new partnership will be driven by
a complex ‘power unit’ of which the
internal combustion engine is just
one component.
17
The RA615H Power unit
components:
Internal Combustion Engine
–1.6-litre V6 in a 90-degree vee,
15,000 rpm
Energy Recovery System
–Motor Generator Unit-Kinetic
– crankshaft-coupled, 50,000 rpm
–Motor Generator Unit-Heat
– turbo-coupled, 125,000 rpm
– Energy Store – maximum storage
4 megajoules per lap
Turbocharger
Honda and McLaren
rejoin forces
Control Electronics
The Power Unit’s minimum weight is
145 kilograms; each driver is allotted four
power units per season with a sliding
scale of grid penalties for any excessive
replacement of the various components.
The sport’s authorities have deliberately
sought to mirror major manufacturers’
road-car philosophies by importing hybrid
technology into the premier category of
motor sport. With severe restrictions on
the number of Power Units available to each
competitor and a concomitant restriction
on the amount of fuel that can be used –
100 kilograms per Grand Prix at a carefully
monitored rate of flow – F1 is currently in
a ‘green’ era that reflects global concerns
with efficiency and performance.
In short, racing is a paradox – how to extract
maximum power from minimum resources –
which Honda’s engineers relish. The car that
will carry Honda’s RA615H power units is
the McLaren MP4-30.
18
19
Honda and McLaren
rejoin forces
Why – that question again – the designation?
The MP4-30 Chassis in detail:
This will be the latest in a line of McLaren F1 cars that dates back to 1981 – an
eternity in Grand Prix racing. McLaren International was born in 1980, a new
company built on the existing McLaren race team, the Project 4 team with
which an aspiring owner by the name of Ron Dennis was campaigning in
F2, F3 and the ProCar series, and a major sponsor whose name was for
many years synonymous with McLaren: Marlboro.
– Carbon-fibre composite monocoque
The innovative genius of engineer John Barnard was behind the first of the
new breed of McLarens: Marlboro Project 4 number one or MP4-1 for ease
of reference. Its derivatives and successors have been among the most
successful and legendary Grand Prix cars in World Championship history,
none more so than the MP4/4 which won 15 of the 16 races in the 1988
season – the first year of the first McLaren-Honda partnership.
20
– Carbon-fibre composite bodywork –
engine cover, sidepods, floor, nose wings
– Carbon-fibre wishbone/pushrod front
suspension
– Carbon-fibre wishbone/pullrod rear
suspension
An F1 car is among the most beautiful
and purposeful of all engineering
achievements, a sophisticated marriage
of form and function. The McLaren-Honda
MP4-30 is an extraordinary addition both
to the MP4 heritage and to the shared
philosophies of the two companies.
– Pirelli P Zero racing tyres
As McLaren’s Racing Director Éric
Boullier says, “McLaren and Honda are
completely integrated and united in our
purpose, and we share a fantastic sense
of optimism: that together, in time, we’ll
create another legacy of success.”
– Overall weight 702 kilograms
(with driver, without fuel)
Why not?
– Electronics by McLaren Applied
Technologies
– Carbon brake discs and pads
F1’s marathon man
Heading into his sixteenth season as
a Formula 1 driver, Jenson Button has
contested more Grands Prix than any other
driver on the grid. The last race of 2014
was the 35-year-old Englishman’s 266th
World Championship race. Only his former
teammate at Honda, Rubens Barrichello
with 323 and Michael Schumacher with
307 have started more often, and both
drivers’ F1 careers are long over.
Honda and McLaren
rejoin forces
Driver profile: Jenson Button
Button made his Grand Prix debut here in
Australia for Williams in 2000. It did not go
well – at least not to begin with. Jenson
spun into the wall during Friday free practice;
his car suffered fuel pressure failure and he
switched to the spare for qualifying, but was
caught out by a late-session red flag and
started 21st from the back row of the grid.
Born on January 9, 1980, Jenson Alexander
Lyons Button went through only a brief
racing apprenticeship before graduating
to the sport’s leading category. A Formula
Ford title followed by third place in the
British Formula 3 series in 1999 earned
the youngster from Frome, in England’s
West Country, F1 tests with both Prost
and Williams.
What followed, though, was “a nice steady
race”, in his own words, brought to a
premature end by engine failure after 46 laps.
No matter: the next round in Brazil brought
Button’s first World Championship point for
sixth place and he ended the season with
12 of them and eighth place overall.
To make way for the meteoric rise of
Colombian Juan Pablo Montoya, Button
was ‘loaned’ to Benetton in 2001 and
stayed on under Renault ownership for 2002.
22
23
Jenson Button is truly
F1’s marathon man
Honda and McLaren
rejoin forces
Between 2003 and 2005, Jenson raced for
BAR-Honda and stayed with Honda when the
company decided to become constructors again
in their own right in 2006. His victory at the
Hungaroring in Budapest that season was the
team’s solitary success before Honda withdrew
in late 2008.
Button stuck to his guns, put his faith in Ross
Brawn after a buy-out – and went on to take the
World Championship in 2009, one of the most
popular title-winners in F1 history. Since 2010
he has been with McLaren, taking eight victories
to date, one pole position and six fastest laps.
In recent years Jenson has added intense fitness
to his skills as a driver. A keen triathlete and
marathon runner, he has a best mark of two
hours and 58 minutes for the gruelling 42-km
event and plans to better that mark in 2015.
Married to Japanese former model Jessica
Michibata in Hawaii at the end of 2014, Button
is now acknowledged as one of the most
likeable and well-rounded figures in the F1
paddock. The maturing of his character has
been the ideal complement to the smoothness
of his racing style; one of the senior men on
the grid, with 15 Grand Prix victories and a
World Championship in his locker, his appetite
for success is undiminished.
25
Back to a
different future
Driver profile: Fernando Alonso
That’s Fernando Alonso explaining his
reasons for returning to McLaren, for
whom he drove for one controversial
season in 2007.
Honda and McLaren
rejoin forces
“It’s different – it’s more open and I’m
different as well.”
Amusing, independent, intelligent,
opinionated and private, a citizen of Oviedo
in his native Asturias in northern Spain,
and once of Oxford, England’s classical
university city of dreaming spires, Alonso
plays chess, backgammon, poker and
soccer, enjoys a practical joke, makes
original use of his own Twitter account
and loves riding a bike to keep fit in the
sharp clean air of his homeland.
“I was 25 years old when I joined McLaren
the first time, so I’m definitely different,”
said the Spaniard, now 33. “I think it’s the
perfect time to re-join because we share
some goals. The team is more open and
more international with people from many
teams joining McLaren this year.” The past
is gone. For now, the future is all that
matters to Alonso.
Alonso made his debut at Albert Park with
Paul Stoddart’s Minardi team in the 2001
Australian Grand Prix. It was a stunning
start: he out-qualified teammate Tarso
Marques by 2.6 seconds.
Only 19 when he started with Stoddart,
he grew up with the Australian’s wry
humour before moving to sample the ‘beat
generation’ Benetton-turned-to-Renault
outfit where, for a year, he was test driver
and reserve, travelling to all the races in
2002. His strong personality grew in that
character-forming season.
26
27
inspiring an interest in motor sport that
transformed the landscape of Hispanic
sport by switching attention away from
bullfighting and the great football clubs
in Barcelona and Madrid.
By September 2005, with Renault, Alonso
had become the sport’s youngest World
Champion to that date. He was also
Spain’s first great single-seat racing driver,
First time around with McLaren, Alonso –
signed as a double World Champion
to partner another English prodigy in
Lewis Hamilton – left the team just one
turbulent season into a three-year contract.
But now, after a return to Renault and five
seasons with Ferrari, Alonso is back for a
second stint with Ron Dennis and his team.
factory and his mother in a department
store. But he returned after paying an
estimated AUD98 million-dollar tax bill.
That’s because this man, fluent in English,
French and Italian, as well as his native
Spanish, holds no fear of going back to
places that once held bad memories or
merely belonged to the past. He left his
roots in Spain, where his father Jose Luis
(from whom Fernando learned some
handy card tricks) worked in an explosives
Alonso’s fearless pragmatism and selfbelief have seen him ignore conventional
wisdom over and again. Who says he
won’t defy the demons of the past, work
with Button to develop a front-running
relationship, and help McLaren-Honda
back to the heady heights of yesteryear?
A keen poker player, Alonso has calculated
the odds – and he is more than ready for
another throw of the dice.
Honda and McLaren
rejoin forces
Ironically enough in 2003, when Jenson
Button was dropped by Renault, Alonso
was promoted from his junior role to
replace the popular Englishman who will
be his McLaren-Honda teammate in 2015.
By September 2005, with Renault,
Alonso had become the sport’s youngest
World Champion to that date.
28
29
The First Era:
1964 to 1968
There was a
lot going on in
August 1964
If you were a music buff the month began with ‘A Hard Day’s
Night’ at number one and ended with Roy Orbison releasing
the enduringly popular ‘Pretty Woman’; if you were a sports
fan, in the USA you could watch the Yankees’ Mickey
Mantle at his home run-hitting best, in England you could
see Freddie Trueman claim his 300th Test wicket while
Aussie Rules fans were watching Melbourne on the
way to their final Premiership to date.
Opposite: 1964 German Grand Prix, Nürburgring.
Honda take part in their first Grand Prix.
31
Elsewhere storm clouds gathered on the international horizon when the
destroyer USS Maddox engaged North Vietnamese torpedo boats in the
Gulf of Tonkin. That ominous event took place on August 2, 1964.
So did the arrival of a significant newcomer amid the sound and fury of a different
battlefield: on that Sunday, in the idyllic setting of the Nürburgring high in the Eifel
Mountains in south-western Germany, Honda took part in its first Grand Prix.
22.81-kilometre circuit known as ‘The Green
Hell’. The California driver had a late-race
spin but was classified 13th, albeit four
laps down and not running at the finish.
In that remarkable decade of the Sixties,
by the end of 1963 Cooper (with the help
of an Aussie called Brabham), Ferrari, BRM
and Lotus had all claimed the Drivers’ World
Championship and the Constructors’ crown
as well.
By December of that year Honda was
testing a prototype engine, the RA270E,
which became the RA271E for the
company’s Formula 1 debut in 1964.
With Yoshio Nakamura leading the team,
the driver was a 28-year-old American
named Ronnie Bucknum, who had no F1
experience of his own but had caught the
eye of people following the American
sports car racing scene.
Honda contested two more races that year,
at Monza in Italy and Watkins Glen in the
United States, but the luckless Bucknum
retired from both. Honda expected more
in 1965...
Year two had seen Honda finish sixth in the Constructors’ World Championship with 11 points.
Lotus took the title with 54, ahead of BRM on 45: clearly there was work still to be done.
On October 24, Ginther drove his RA272
to Honda’s first Grand Prix victory.
The first red letter day
The First Era:
1964 to 1968
The Japanese company had released
its first sports car, the S500, only the
previous year. Now Soichiro Honda, true
to his credo that racing improves the breed,
was keen to throw his young engineers into
a sporting contest, which at that time was
dominated by the Europeans.
Mexico City was, after Monaco, F1’s most exotic staging-post in the Sixties. On October 24
Ginther drove his RA272 to Honda’s first Grand Prix victory. It was a maiden win, too, for the
American and for tyre supplier Goodyear, and it was made all the sweeter by Bucknum’s
finishing fifth. These were the only World Championship points the pioneering Bucknum
scored in 11 races with Honda.
For 1965 Honda not only had the
experience of 1964 to call upon, it also
had the experience of its second driver.
Richie Ginther came in alongside his
compatriot Bucknum as they got to
grips with the RA272.
Ginther was 34 and already had 39
Grand Prix starts under his belt. He had
visited the F1 podium 13 times and enjoyed
the reputation of an excellent test and
development driver. In short, he was
perfect for Honda’s purposes at the time.
The Honda was shaken down at Zandvoort
in Holland before contesting its first World
Championship event. The German Grand
Prix was round six of 10 in 1964, with an
Englishman by the name of John Surtees
on his way to the world title with Ferrari.
On track there was good and not-so-good
news. Not so good: with RA272 proved
rather fragile, with a string of retirements
linked to areas such as gearbox and ignition.
Good: despite this, within two races
Ginther had secured Honda’s first World
Championship point, taking sixth place
in Honda’s fifth Grand Prix staged at the
magnificent Spa-Francorchamps circuit
in Belgium; he repeated that achievement
at Zandvoort. But the best of 1965 was
yet to come.
Honda had to seek an additional Saturday
afternoon session to ensure that the car
could overcome its teething troubles and
allow Bucknum to complete the requisite
five laps to qualify for Sunday’s race, due
to be run over 15 laps of the daunting
32
1965 Mexican Grand Prix, Mexico City.
Richie Ginther, Honda, 1st position, celebrates
with chief mechanic Yoshio Nakamura.
33
The Return to Power: 1966 and all that
a chassis on which Eric Broadley’s
Lola designers did most of the
initial work with input from Surtees
himself. Overall the car shed around
40 kilos – and it paid off.
Honda’s first success, in only its 11th Grand
Prix, came in the final race of the 1.5-litre
era. For 1966 and beyond, Grand Prix racing
faced the ‘Return to Power’ with a new
3-litre formula coming into force. Would the
newly successful Japanese company be
up to the challenge?
1967 Italian Grand Prix, Monza.
John Surtees, Honda RA300,
1st position.
The RA300’s debut came at Monza
on September 10. It was Honda’s
21st Grand Prix, and it brought the
company’s second World
Championship race win. With five
points-scoring finishes from its nine
races in 1967 Honda scored 20 points
and finished fourth overall, as did the
driver who scored them.
Striving to get the RA273 ready for the fray,
Honda contested only three rounds of the
1966 World Championship with Ginther
and Bucknum. Ginther also enjoyed one-off
drives with Cooper in Monaco and Belgium.
Like many of us, the RA273 had a weight
problem. The ‘Return to Power’ saw Honda
develop a longer engine, abandoning the
transverse mounting and with its exhausts
packed into the centre of its 90-degree vee.
It could deliver over 400 bhp, but Honda
over-reacted to concerns about the loadings
being put through the car and made a
chassis that was punitively heavy – 650
kilos overall, when the minimum weight
required was a mere 500.
The First Era:
1964 to 1968
Sadly the expectations raised by Surtees’
arrival and the race-winning speed of the
RA300 did not bear fruit. Honda built two
new Grand Prix machines, the RA301 and
the RA302, which was introduced in the
French Grand Prix in early July. It was
a landmark in Honda’s racing history,
but for the saddest of reasons.
While Surtees in the RA301 took second
place, Jo Schlesser, drafted in to give
the new RA302 its debut, lost control
at the Rouen circuit’s Nouveau Monde
hairpin, crashed and perished in the
burning wreckage.
Of the three rounds contested, Mexico City
was again the most rewarding. Ginther
qualified third, finished fourth and collected
another of the little statistical trophies F1
followers enjoy so much – Honda’s first
fastest race lap. But three points and
seventh place in the Constructors’
standings were not the return Honda
sought on its investment.
Surtees claimed Honda’s first coveted pole
position at the Italian Grand Prix at Monza,
but third at Watkins Glen was his final visit
to the podium for the team. Finishing sixth
overall with just 14 points persuaded
Mr Honda to refocus his engineers’
talents on building road cars instead.
For 1967 the company called in the cavalry,
which in this case took the shape of 1964
World Champion John Surtees and race-car
manufacturer Lola, with whom the English
ace had close contacts. Surtees started as
he meant to go on, collecting a podium for
third place in the ‘old’ R272 in South Africa
on his Honda debut.
Introduced in mid-season, the RA300, with
an engine developing 420 bhp, was mated to
34
In all the ‘first era’ saw Honda contest
35 Grands Prix, winning two, taking one
pole position and two fastest race laps.
The statistics would be considerably more
seductive when the company returned to
supply engines to front-running teams in
the Eighties...
The RA300’s debut came at
Monza on September 10.
It was Honda’s 21st Grand Prix,
and it brought the company’s
second World Championship
race win.
35
the English all-rounder
John Surtees was a seasoned 33-year-old with 58 Grands Prix and several world
titles under his belt when he teamed up with Honda in 1967. Eight of them, to be
exact – but like Honda, his reputation was forged in the world of two-wheeled racing.
No fewer than seven of those titles had come on two wheels in 350cc and 500cc
road racing in the Fifties before he swapped his saddle for a Grand Prix cockpit.
Making his F1 debut in Monaco for Lotus in 1960, Surtees also went on to race
for Cooper, Lola and Ferrari, scoring the first of his six victories in Germany in
1963 for the famous Italian marque. He then became the first man ever to win
World Championships on two and four wheels, taking the title in 1964 with
victories in Germany and Italy to pip Graham Hill of BRM by a single point.
1965 Mexican Grand Prix,
Mexico City. Richie Ginther,
Honda, 1st position.
The quiet American
Richie Ginther began his career in Formula 1 in 1960 as teammate to his compatriot
Phil Hill at Ferrari, finishing second in only his third start for the famous Scuderia.
While Hill went on to become America’s first F1 World Champion the following year,
Ginther was fifth overall and the exit beckoned.
In three seasons with BRM he played second fiddle to another World Champion in
Graham Hill, finished runner-up to the great Jim Clark of Lotus and then finished fifth
in 1964. With BRM intent on signing rising Scot Jackie Stewart, Ginther was delighted
to be offered the chance of making Honda a force in Formula 1.
At Monza on September 10, 1967, where he had won in a Ferrari three years
and one day before, John Surtees started from ninth on the grid for the 78 lap
Italian Grand Prix. For much of the race he fought tigerishly with Chris Amon,
Bruce McLaren and Jochen Rindt over fourth place.
But retirements up front and among his group saw Surtees duelling with Jack
Brabham for the lead on the final lap. The Australian had it won as they entered
the final bend, the famous Parabolica – but the Brabham ran wide, Surtees pounced
and victory was his by just two-tenths of a second. It was Honda’s second F1 victory
and the sixth and last of John Surtees’ extraordinary career.
1968 British Grand Prix. John Surtees,
Honda RA301, 5th position.
His greatest day came at the end of his first season in the Japanese car. Mexico City’s
altitude presented a specific challenge because of the lack of atmospheric pressure.
Chief Engineer Nakamura balanced the fuel mixture perfectly with the thin air to make
his two American drivers quick from the start of the weekend.
Starting from the outside of the second row, Ginther raced straight into the lead, carefully
asked for only 11,000 of the 12,000 revs available to him, just as carefully kept an eye on
Dan Gurney’s Brabham and won by 2.8 seconds.
Richie Ginther took part in 52 Grands Prix but Honda provided his lone victory. He never
again reached the heights of Mexico City, so to speak, and contested only five more F1
races. Abandoning the alleged glamour of the F1 paddock he toured the south-western
USA and Mexico, aptly enough. He died of heart failure in 1989.
36
37
The First Era:
1964 to 1968
Surtees worked long and hard at a small base in Slough, England, to help Honda
develop a V12 response to the emerging force of the V8 Ford-Cosworth DFV.
In all he would contest 21 World Championship races in Honda cars, winning one
and finishing in the points eight times.
The Second Era:
1983 To 1992
Power behind
the throne
1992 Australian Grand Prix, Adelaide.
Gerhard Berger (McLaren MP4/7A
Honda) 1st position.
39
But by the end of that year’s World
Championship Rosberg too would be
powered by Honda – and this time it
was the start of something much more
long-lasting.
April 10, 1983 was a historic day for
Formula 1, for two reasons. On that date
the ‘Race of Champions’ was staged at
Brands Hatch in Kent. It was the last
non-World Championship F1 race ever
to take place.
1987 Jerez, Spain. Nigel Mansell
(Williams FW11B Honda) and
Michele Alboreto (Ferrari F187)
wait in the pits.
Honda by now had become established
as a force in global automotive production
with the Civic and Accord leading the way.
A new generation of engineers was waiting
in the wings, and Grand Prix racing would
again be the intensely competitive
environment in which they would thrive.
As is so often the case with new cars,
Johansson was quick – second-fastest
in free practice – but plauged by teething
troubles. He qualified 12th and had
progressed to eighth within four laps
before being sidelined.
The race was won by another Scandinavian,
Keke Rosberg, in a Williams. Spirit’s
involvement in Grand Prix racing began with
the British Grand Prix at Silverstone; ironically
it ended five races later back at Brands Hatch,
this time for the European Grand Prix.
While there had been no change to F1
engine regulations, by then turbo-charged
engines were starting to exercise
dominance over normally-aspirated units
with twice their capacity. For 1984 the
opposition would include TAG Porsche,
Ferrari, Renault – who began the turbo era
at the British Grand Prix in 1977 – and BMW.
Could Honda compete?
Williams-Honda World Champions
The first Williams-Honda, FW09, appeared
at the final round of the 1983 season at
Kyalami in South Africa. Rosberg qualified
sixth and finished one place higher. By the
halfway point of the partnership’s first full
season, 1984, Rosberg was a race-winner.
It came at Dallas, in the USA, Keke proudly
sporting a ten-gallon hat to acknowledge his
achievement. It was just the beginning…
Rosberg conquered the States again in
1985, this time in the motor city itself,
Detroit. Three straight victories to close the
season, shared between the Finn and his
UK teammate Nigel Mansell, were the
springboard to two more years of
outstanding success.
– but also allowing McLaren’s French ace
Alain Prost to nip in and steal the Drivers’
World Championship at the final round in
Adelaide. Williams-Honda, though, were
Constructors’ World Champions together.
The Second Era:
1983 To 1992
It was also the day Honda entered the new
F1 turbo era, supplying the engine that
powered the Spirit entry, the #40 car
driven by Sweden’s Stefan Johansson.
1985 British Grand Prix, Silverstone, England.
Keke Rosberg (Williams FW10 Honda) who’s pole
position time was the fastest ever qualifying lap.
In 1987 Piquet added the Drivers’ crown
as the team again dominated: nine more
victories, the Brazilian was World Champion
and Mansell runner-up, and a second
straight Constructors’ crown.
In their time together Williams and Honda
achieved 23 Grand Prix victories, 19 pole
positions and 22 fastest race laps. In 1987
and 1988 Lotus also used Honda power to
achieve two wins for Ayrton Senna, one
pole and three fastest laps.
Mansell and his new Williams partner,
Nelson Piquet, fought tooth and nail for
victories in 1986, taking nine between them
40
Amazingly enough, the best
was yet to come…
41
The Dream Team: the first
McLaren-Honda partnership, 1988-92
For 1988 McLaren and Honda had perhaps the strongest
driver pairing ever seen in Formula 1. It brought together
two men who already had connections to the new
partnership: Prost, a proven race-winner for McLaren
and by then a double World Champion, and Senna,
the brilliant Brazilian who had won with Honda power
while a Lotus driver.
The Second Era:
1983 To 1992
The media called it the Dream Team; Managing
Director Ron Dennis referred to “gladiatorial
competitiveness”. While the two drivers eventually
became bitter rivals as each pursued his own title
ambitions, for two seasons the Prost-Senna
pairing enjoyed success that was indeed the
stuff of dreams.
In their first year together the pair completed
perhaps the most dominant season ever seen.
In 1988 McLaren-Honda won 15 of the 16 World
Championship races. A clean sweep was denied
them only when Senna’s car was taken out by
F1 newcomer Jean-Louis Schlesser, a one-race
stand-in for Nigel Mansell, with one lap of the
Italian Grand Prix to go and Senna in the lead.
On his way to the title Senna set a new
F1 record of 13 pole positions in a single
season. He also set a new record of eight
victories in a single season, and Prost was
only one win behind. McLaren-Honda
achieved a record 10 1-2 finishes; 12 times
Senna and Prost locked out the front row;
their Championship-winning total of
199 points was also a new record.
1988 Hungaroring, Budapest, Hungary.
Ayrton Senna (McLaren MP4/4 Honda) followed
by Nigel Mansell and Riccardo Patrese (both
Williams FW12 Judd’s) at the start.
43
1988 Adelaide, Australia. Last race for the Honda V6 Turbo.
1988 Silverstone, England. Alain Prost
(McLaren MP4/4-Honda).
The Second Era:
1983 To 1992
Designed by Steve Nichols, the MP4-4, complete
with Honda’s RA168E V6 turbo-charged engine,
was perhaps the single most successful Grand Prix
car of all time. What is more remarkable is that the
team achieved these unprecedented successes
in the final year of turbo power.
Boost pressure had been restricted; fuel
consumption was set at a miserly 150 litres.
Then, as now, the key to winning was the ability
to match high power to low fuel consumption.
And, as Ron Dennis concluded, it all seemed
perfectly logical. “To Honda,” he observed,
“winning is what they came to do...”
The figures were almost as startling in 1989,
despite the switch to normally-aspirated
V10 engines. Senna matched his record
tally of 13 poles; he and Prost recorded
10 Grand Prix victories between them.
But this time it was ‘The Professor’, as
the shrewd little Frenchman was known,
who beat the dazzling Latin-American to
the crown. Their rivalry had intensified
to a peak that Prost could no longer
tolerate and for 1990 Ayrton had
a new teammate.
He was Austrian Gerhard Berger, who
arrived at McLaren-Honda with five Grand
Prix wins on his résumé, for Benetton and
Ferrari. Seven podiums in his first season
with the team helped McLaren-Honda
win a third straight Constructors’ World
Championship, but Berger was always
in Senna’s shadow. The Brazilian took his
second title with another 10 pole positons
and six race wins.
44
In 1991, propelled by Honda’s V12 engines,
Berger posted his first McLaren-Honda.
Fittingly enough it came from pole position
in Japan, the penultimate round of the
season. By then a third title was in Senna’s
keeping: seven more race wins helped
McLaren-Honda retain the Constructors’
crown as well.
The final year of this epic partnership was
1992 – and it was the least successful
season of the McLaren-Honda era.
Senna managed ‘only’ three Grand Prix
victories, Berger two; they finished fourth
and fifth respectively.
In 80 races together McLaren-Honda
won 44; they were on pole 53 times;
they set 30 fastest race laps. Eight World
Championships, four each for Drivers
and Constructors, were the staggering
reward in four straight seasons.
Will we ever see their like again?
45
46
The Third Era:
2000 To 2008
Just because
Honda loves
racing
2006 Chinese Grand Prix, Shanghai,
China. Rubens Barrichello, Honda RA106;
Michael Schumacher, Ferrari 248 F1.
Simple questions demand simple answers. Takefumi Hosaka was quick to supply one.
Asked why Honda was returning to Formula 1 at the dawn of the 21st century,
the Project Leader said: “Just because Honda loves racing.”
In the early years of the century Honda returned to its role from 1983-92: that of
engine supplier to a pre-existing racing team. In this case it was BAR, the phoenix
which rose in 1999 from the ashes of the once-great Tyrrell team.
The project was driven by Craig Pollock, who had astutely managed the career of
Jacques Villeneuve all the way to the Drivers’ World Championship with Williams
in 1997. Their gleaming Brackley headquarters was in stark contrast to the days
of Ken Tyrrell’s team and its original woodyard base.
In collaboration with Adrian Reynard, a respected figure in F3000 and IndyCar
construction, BAR made their F1 entry in 1999 with Villeneuve as one of
their drivers – and failed to score a single point.
The Third Era:
2000 To 2008
The arrival of Honda’s RA100E V10 engines for 2000 had an immediate
impact. Villeneuve was fourth in the opening round here in Australia
and teammate Ricardo Zonta sixth. That would be their best result
in a season that yielded seven points-scoring finishes for the
French-Canadian and three for his Brazilian teammate. BAR-Honda
finished equal fourth in the Constructors’ World Championship.
The partnership would endure for another five seasons – but it
also endured some difficult days. Villeneuve achieved the team’s
first podium finishes in Spain and Germany in 2001 but they
slipped to sixth, a position they repeated in 2002.
Jenson Button arrived in 2003 and scored 17 points on
his way to ninth overall as BAR-Honda finished fifth, but
2004 was a season of real promise. Button scored points
on 15 occasions, with two second places and three
thirds en route to third place in the drivers’ standings.
Takuma Sato backed up manfully to finish eighth and
BAR-Honda ended the year as runners-up to the
all-conquering Ferraris.
The promise was not to be fulfilled, but a strong
finish to the 2005 season by Button – scoring
points in each of the last 10 races – persuaded
Honda that it was time to take matters into their
own hands. After six seasons with BAR, and
a brief partnership with Jordan (2001-02),
Honda was a Formula 1 constructor again.
2006 Brazilian Grand Prix,
Interlagos, São Paulo, Brazil.
Giancarlo Fisichella, Renault R26;
Rubens Barrichello, Honda RA106;
Michael Schumacher, Ferrari 248 F1.
49
On the Button: the high-point of the third era
And then came Hungary...
“If my voice sounds funny it’s because
I’ve been screaming so much.”
By that time Shuhei Nakamoto
had taken over the team’s
technical direction. New emphasis
was put on development, which
had been allowed to slide as major
items like a new wind tunnel were
put in place, and the results spoke
for themselves.
Jenson Button was almost apologetic
as he faced the world’s racing media in
Hungary on the first Sunday of August
2006. Hoarseness was a small price to
pay for the finest moment of the popular
Englishman’s racing life to that point.
Button was then 26; he had already
contested 113 Grands Prix. He had
visited the podium several times with the
Honda-powered BAR team in 2004 and
2005, but never stood on the top step.
Jenson qualified fourth for the
Hungarian Grand Prix on August 6
but started from 14th after being
penalised for an engine change on
Saturday. He and Rubens were going
along nicely enough, but it all got better
with a Safety Car on the 26th lap.
That all changed at the Hungaroring in 2006.
The F1 landscape to which Honda returned
as a constructor in its own right in that
year was much changed from the one it
had left in 1968. In between times, of
course, Honda had forged an awesome
reputation as the supplier of World
Championship-winning engines to
Williams and, especially, McLaren.
The Bahrain Grand Prix at Sakhir on
March 12, 2006 was the dawn of Honda’s
third era in the sport as a constructor.
“We were a real thinking team today,”
beamed the first-time winner. “We thought
hard about our strategy and we won,
not just because we had speed but also
because we had the strategy. The last
lap felt amazing. In fact, over the last
ten I didn’t want the race to end...”
The men chosen to drive the V8-engined
RA106 were Jenson Button and Rubens
Barrichello. It was perhaps the most
seasoned line-up on the 22-car grid of
that initial year, but even that outstanding
Anglo-Brazilian partnership struggled to
wring results from the first new Honda.
Button’s third place in Malaysia, followed
by pole position in Australia, proved a false
dawn, with an alarming mid-season period
from the British round to the German where
retirements and no-scores were the order
of the day.
50
In a nice echo of Honda’s first Grand Prix
win back in 1965, when Ronnie Bucknum
backed up team leader and race winner
Richie Ginther with fifth place, Barrichello
also backed up with a fine fourth place
of his own.
The Third Era:
2000 To 2008
The experienced Button nipped through
for second place behind Renault’s World
Champion Fernando Alonso. The Honda
made its second pit stop on lap 46 – five
laps before the Spaniard – and had the
gap down to mere fractions of a second.
When Alonso’s right rear wheel-nut came
off and he spun off after his second stop,
the race was Jenson’s.
2008 Interlagos, Sao Paulo, Brazil.
Jenson Button, Honda RA108.
From there to the end of the season Button
scored more points than any other driver.
Small wonder, then, that confidence was
high as the team went into the winter break.
Sadly, it proved unfounded: RA107 and its
successor, RA108, were hamstrung by
aerodynamic inadequacies and failed to
deliver another victory – in fact Barrichello’s
third place in the British Grand Prix of 2008
was their only other podium.
In November of that year, as the GFC began
to bite, Honda pulled out of F1. Ironically,
team principal Ross Brawn effected a
management buy-out, retained Button and
Barrichello, and the pair finished one-two
in the first race of 2009 in Australia.
Brawn had been laying the foundations
throughout 2008. By the time he built his F1
house, Honda were no longer its owners…
51
In those two decades Melbourne, taking
the Australian round over from its highly
popular first location in Adelaide, has
established itself as one of the most
popular staging-posts on Formula 1’s
hectic annual gallop around the globe.
The first winner at Albert Park was Damon
Hill – taking back-to-back Australian
victories in 1996 after winning the final
race in Adelaide the previous year.
The F1 world
in 2015
“It’s great to be on the inside at last, rather than sitting in the stands!”
The speaker is Yasuhisa Arai, one of the key people entrusted with the
task of making Honda and McLaren a successful force once more.
What Arai-san knows better than most is that the world has changed
a great deal, and Formula 1 with it, since these two giants last
worked together...
20 Years of Grand Prix racing in Melbourne
As it turns 20 in 2015, the Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne
can reflect on a job well done. The Albert Park circuit, radically
overhauled since its earliest staging of the Australian GP as
a non-Championship event in the Fifties, now holds its own
as a modern, permanent circuit with many great resources
to draw on.
52
Damon, son of two-time title-winner
Graham Hill, was the first in a long
list of Melbourne winners who went
on to become World Champions
in the same year: Mika Häkkinen,
Michael Schumacher, Fernando Alonso,
Kimi Räikkönen, Lewis Hamilton,
Jenson Button and Sebastian Vettel.
In their first partnership McLaren and
Honda enjoyed conspicuous success
in South Australia: four pole positions
together, two fastest race laps and three
victories for the three drivers who were
the stalwarts of that first partnership –
Alain Prost in 1988, Ayrton Senna (1991)
and Gerhard Berger (1992).
Each of the two partners has enjoyed
separate success in Melbourne too.
For Honda in its third F1 era, Jenson
Button claimed pole position in 2006.
For McLaren there have been six
victories in the Victorian capital to
date as well as five pole positions.
Bridging the gap are the two drivers now
charged with steering McLaren-Honda
back to the top. Fernando Alonso is
already a Melbourne winner, back in
2006; Jenson Button, remarkably, has
three Melbourne victories on his CV.
The first was for the team that morphed
out of Honda’s third F1 era, Brawn GP,
in 2009, the other two for McLaren
in 2010 and 2012.
The passing years have seen F1
tightening its belt: restrictions on engine
size, from the three-litre formula in force
until 2003, the 2.4-litre era and, starting
in 2014, the radical new hybrid power
systems that reflect world car makers’
desire to achieve ever-higher stands on
performance on ever-diminishing
quantities of fuel.
The season ahead:
a developing world
McLaren and Honda, embarking on a
new journey together, will travel to no
fewer than 20 Grand Prix destinations in
2015. The expansion of the F1 calendar
is perhaps the single most obvious
difference between the F1 world in 2015
and the world the partners knew when
their first collaboration ended in 1992.
Of the 20 races scheduled for 2015,
no fewer than 12 – 60 per cent – are
so-called ‘fly-aways’, races calling for
long-haul flights outside of the sport’s
historical and geographical homeland
in western Europe. Exotic locations like
Malaysia, China, Bahrain, Singapore,
Russia and Abu Dhabi have never seen
McLaren-Honda in action together.
The people working together will also
be far more numerous than before.
While there are restrictions on the
number of personnel allowed to be
trackside over each Grand Prix weekend,
some 60 operational staff working more
or less directly on the two cars will be
backed up by a substantial number of
ancillary personnel in media, marketing
and hospitality.
53
The F1 World
in 2015
With two exceptions, Melbourne has
been the opening race of each F1 season
and that proviso is now built into a contract
renewed through to the year 2020.
As far as the McLaren-Honda MP4-30 is concerned,
the keyword will be ‘development’. Every new F1 car is
like a new-born thoroughbred racehorse: its first steps,
its growth and its potential are closely monitored from
the moment it first sees the light of day.
For the MP4-30, that moment came at Jerez, in
south-western Spain, on a cool Sunday morning –
the first day of February 2015. While the amount
of testing Grand Prix teams may carry out has also
been severely curtailed, the pre-season tests are
traditionally a chance to see the new cars for the
first time and to speculate on who will be frontrunners by the time they reach Melbourne.
McLaren’s motor sport director Éric Boullier underlined the point.
“What’s particularly encouraging,” he said, “is the way that McLaren’s
and Honda’s engineers are already working so well together – collaborating
seamlessly in their shared ambition to nail a revolutionary new car’s
inevitable developmental gremlins as soon as possible.”
Last but not least, the man who has previous experience of both McLaren
and Honda as separate entities summed up the atmosphere in the renewed
partnership. “There’s a very positive atmosphere about the place,” insisted
Jenson Button. “The team isn’t McLaren and Honda, it’s McLaren-Honda.
It’s everyone together.”
It would be only fair to say that the new car’s
birth was a difficult one: the four-day test in the
first week of February saw limited running as
the two sets of engineers wrestled with teething
problems. But the feeling emanating from the
camp was positive.
The F1 World
in 2015
“It is a foundation,” said McLaren, “offering up
new exploratory development paths for our
engineers, aerodynamicists and drivers to
pursue during the season, and on into next year.
“Honda will provide the know-how, the
expertise and the muscle to make rapid
progress – and to keep pushing development
on all fronts during the season. The partnership
will be a work in progress, but it will only
strengthen over time.”
Fernando Alonso was the man entrusted
with the car’s first appearance on track.
“It’s been a fantastic day for me,” said the
Spanish star. “To have the privilege to
drive the car for the first time – for the
comeback of McLaren and Honda after 23
years – makes me feel extremely proud.”
Alonso was also quick to strike an
optimistic note. “We have a lot still to
learn,” he conceded, “but let’s not forget
how tough it was for a lot of teams last
year. It’ll be no different for us. Every lap
we do we learn something, so hopefully
we’ll arrive in Australia with a good
understanding of the car.”
55
2015 F1 Pre Season Test,
Circuito de Jerez, Jerez, Spain.
NSX – Honda’s
return to power
NSX: a supercar
evolved
Formula 1 represents the pinnacle of automobile engineering and
technological advancement. It is often referred to as “the toughest
automotive testing ground on the planet”. Honda, the world’s
largest engine manufacturer is excited to return to the sport that
has spawned some of its greatest automotive achievements –
such as the NSX (but more on this later).
To celebrate their return to Formula 1, Honda has created the
Power Room at the 2015 Formula 1® Rolex Australian Grand
Prix – an exhibition commemorating their successes on
and off the track. Take a trip down memory lane, from the
illustrious F1 history dating back to the 60s, through the
powerful McLaren-Honda partnership in the 80s, to their
final performances before exiting Formula 1. A special
inclusion to the exhibit is the Honda F1 memorabilia
that harks back to the famed drivers of Aryton Senna
and Alain Prost. On display are driver gloves, engine
parts from the championship winning MP4/4
and a historic driver’s helmet.
The Power Room also houses the impressive
evolution of the sports car – the Honda NSX
Concept. This is the centre-piece of the Power
Room – a rebirth of an icon that represents
the ultimate combination of power,
performance, technology and sportiness.
57
Honda engineers leveraged the company’s
expertise both with high-performance
engine and hybrid electric-drive technologies,
as well as its two decades of experience
with industry-leading dynamic torquevectoring technologies, including SuperHandling All-Wheel Drive (SH-AWD), to
create the most sophisticated, technologically
advanced and intelligent powertrain in the
supercar universe.
At the heart of the NSX’s performance
capabilities is an all-new mid-mounted,
75-degree, DOHC V6 engine with twin
turbochargers mated to an Acura-developed
9-speed DCT. The V6 engine employs a
race-inspired compact valve train and dry
sump lubrication system to help lower the
center of gravity. The all-new 9-speed DCT
delivers synapse-quick gear changes and
rev-matching downshifts. The rear directdrive electric motor, housed between the
engine and transmission, supports
acceleration, braking and transmission
shifting performance. The NSX’s front
wheels are driven by twin independent
high-output electric motors, which deliver
instantaneous torque response and dynamic
left-to-right torque distribution.
The NSX uses its front electric motors for
dynamic torque vectoring in addition to
enhancing acceleration and braking
58
performance. The result is an instantaneous
“zero delay” launch performance and
handling response that seems to anticipate
the driver’s desire. The NSX has undergone
extensive testing at some of the world’s
most challenging race circuits, including
the famed Nürburgring.
Also in keeping with the legacy of NSX –
the world’s first all-aluminum supercar –
the new NSX features an innovative
new multi-material body design with
world-first material applications and
construction processes.
This is the only NSX on display in the
country and your only chance to be in the
presence of automotive greatness. Come
see it up close and personal in Honda’s
on-circuit display at the 2015 Formula 1®
Rolex Australian Grand Prix, Legends
Lane, March 12-15. Don’t miss this
one-off opportunity.
NSX:
TheaF1
supercar
World
evolved
in 2015
Dubbed the ‘new sports experience’, it was
developed under the concept of a ‘humancentered supercar’ – a car that puts the driver
first in every aspect of its design. The next
generation NSX will leverage its state-of-theart hybrid supercar power unit, body and
chassis to deliver an exceptionally intuitive,
and confidence-inspiring response “at the
will of the driver”.
Honda F1 Flash Back
Ayrton Senna was in Japan testing his
Honda-powered McLaren in February
1989, so his test of the NSX was
almost a spur-of-the-moment event.
When he now famously said, “I’m not
sure I can really give you appropriate
advice on a mass-production car,
but I feel it’s a little fragile.”
The Honda R&D department
regrouped at one of the first
dedicated Japanese testing facilities
at the Nürburgring. Honda engineers
managed to increase the chassis
stiffness of the NSX by 50 per cent
after Senna’s comments, and his
further input helped create an
even more balanced machine.
59
This year, Honda
is just as exciting
off the track
HR-V: Honda off
the track
For Honda, 2015 is not just about our return to Formula 1. There are many
exciting developments happening off the track as well, including the
release of our ultimate compact SUV – the all-new Honda HR-V.
61
With a dynamic stance that gives rise
to a sleek upper body, the HR-V cuts a
surprisingly chiselled profile for a car of its
size. Strong, sculptural lines evoke sports
car as much as SUV.
But SUV is in its DNA. The driver is
positioned high on the road for superior
visibility, while details like the front fog lights^,
17-inch alloy wheels#, shark fin antenna and
tailgate spoiler command attention.
Under the hood lies a 1.8-litre i-VTEC petrol
engine – perfectly proportioned for this new
generation of compact SUV. But don’t let
size fool you. There’s room for those who
live big.
We can’t spare you from having to load
up the luggage for your next adventure,
but we can make it less difficult. With an
astonishingly low, extra-wide tailgate,
it’s never been easier to pack it all in.
Awkward items like golf clubs slide in and
out with ease. While discreet compartments
let you hide your most prized possessions.
But the real secret to the HR-V’s miraculous
use of space lies in the seats themselves.
With 18 possible seating configurations,
there is no cargo too tricky for its Magic
Seats with their many versatile modes.
Speaking of clever ideas, the 7-inch Display
Audio system is your new favourite front
seat passenger – there to keep the beat
going and connect you to the world outside.
Finally, the world revolves around you. Introducing the
electric panoramic sunroof* – a window to bring you and
your passengers closer to nature. It’s all made possible by
a design that puts people first, surrounding the occupants
with a gorgeous 360 degree view of the sky above.
The glass is tinted to control cabin light and can be retracted
just like a normal sunroof to let the summer sun shine in.
That’s right, the Honda HR-V is no ordinary car. Think of
it as a new friend. A friend that’s going places.
Like a moth to a flame, you’ll feel the allure
of the beautifully designed LED lighting
system. Turn indicators have been
imaginatively integrated into the door
mirrors, while the taillights emit a futuristic
glow. On the VTi-S and above, the lighting
is reinvented again with charismatic LED
Daytime Running Lights (DRL), LED
auto-levelling headlights, and optical guide
LED taillights that look smart but are
also an ingenious new safety feature.
HR-V: Honda off
the track
Every great adventurer needs to have
a co-conspirator. Whether you’re going
for brunch in town or a beach far from it,
the Honda HR-V is ready, willing and able.
It’s an SUV on a compact scale. Nimble like
a hatchback, and thrilling like a coupé, you’ll
find clever thinking everywhere you look.
Everything about the HR-V shouts
adventure. From its cleverly concealed
rear door handles (hint: they’re behind the
window), to the sporty black grille and
trim, to the roof rails that come standard
on the VTi-S and above, it’s clear there’s
even more to this car than initially
meets the eye.
As a screen for the multi-angle reversing
camera, it can also help you manoeuvre
safely. Intelligent advancements like City
Brake Active System and Lane Watch have
made their way into the VTi-S model and
above, as well as the optional Advanced
Driver Assist System (ADAS) in the VTi-L.
^V Ti-S and above. #VTi-S and above.
VTi-L features 17-inch alloy sports wheel design.
*VTi-L and above.
62
63
Red letter days
1964-68
35 Grands Prix
Honda as constructor
2006-08
53 Grands Prix
September 10, 1967
October 24, 1965
First victory
Second victory
John Surtees wins the
Italian Grand Prix at Monza
Ginther wins the Mexican
Grand Prix in Mexico City,
with Bucknum fifth
August 2, 1964
First race
April 1, 2006
Second pole position
Jenson Button qualifies
fastest for the Australian
Grand Prix in Melbourne
Ronnie Bucknum drives
the Honda RA271 in the
German Grand Prix at
the Nürburgring
1964
2006
October 23, 1966
First fastest lap
Ginther, Mexico City
June 13, 1965
First World
Championship point
September 7, 1968
First pole position
Surtees qualifies
fastest for the Italian
Grand Prix at Monza
Richie Ginther finishes sixth
at Spa-Francorchamps in
Belgium
64
August 6, 2006
Third victory
65
Jenson Button wins the
Hungarian Grand Prix
in Budapest
Glory days
Honda as engine supplier
Constructors’ World
Championships:2
1986-1987
Pole positions: 1
Williams
65 Grands Prix
Fastest Laps: 22
Pole positions: 19
Rosberg 3
Piquet 11
Mansell 8
First fastest lap: July 7,
1985, Rosberg, French
Grand Prix, Le Castellet
Keke Rosberg 2
Nelson Piquet 6
Lotus
First pole: May 2, 1987,
Ayrton Senna, San Marino
Grand Prix, Imola
32 Grands Prix
Fastest Laps: 3 (all to Senna)
First fastest lap: May 31, 1987,
Senna, Monaco Grand Prix,
Monte Carlo
Nigel Mansell 11
First pole: July 6, 1985,
Rosberg, French Grand Prix,
Le Castellet
1983
Mansell
1987
1987
1988
Senna
Victories: 23
Rosberg 3
Piquet 7
Mansell 13
First victory: July 8, 1984,
Rosberg, US Grand Prix,
Dallas
66
Drivers’ World
Championships:1
Piquet, 1987
Victories: 2 (both to Senna)
First victory: May 31, 1987,
Senna, Monaco Grand Prix,
Monte Carlo
67
McLaren
80 Grands Prix
Fastest Laps: 30
Prost 12
Senna 11
Berger 7
First fastest lap: May 1,
1988, Prost, San Marino
Grand Prix, Imola
Pole positions: 53
Constructors’ World
Championships:4
Ayrton Senna 45
Alain Prost 4
Gerhard Berger 4
1988-89-90-91
First pole: April 2, 1988,
Senna, Brazilian Grand Prix,
Rio de Janeiro
1988
1992
Honda also supplied Formula 1
engines to the following teams:
In all, Honda has contested 340
World Championship Grands Prix:
Drivers’ World
Championships:4
Spirit (6 races 1983)
As constructor:
Tyrrell (16 races, 1991)
As engine supplier: 252
Senna, 1988-90-91
BAR (101 races, 2000-05)
Prost 1989
Jordan (34 races, 2001-02)
Super Aguri (39 races, 2006-08)
Senna
Victories: 44
Senna 30
Prost 11
Berger 3
2006 Brazilian Grand Prix, Interlagos, Sao Paulo.
Franck Montagny, Super Aguri SA06-Honda.
First victory: April 3, 1988,
Prost, Brazilian Grand Prix,
Rio de Janeiro
68
69
88
Off track &
on trend in
Melbourne
So you think you know Melbourne? Step off track
and race ahead of the pack with this round-up of
what’s hot and sparkling new in the city that loves
to shop, eat, drink coffee and play around.
Polepole restaurant-bar
Food
Many new kids on the Melbourne food scene
already have an impeccable pedigree, including
Gradi Pizzeria, now on Crown’s Riverwalk. Step in
and discover the pizza that won chef Johnny
Di Francesco best margherita pizza at the
Pizza World Championship in Italy (Southbank,
400gradi.com.au). In the city, the tagline for
Polepole restaurant-bar is ‘booze, ribs, beats’.
Climb the stairs for an East African beer and
seriously good ribs and non-ribs (267 Little
Collins St, polepolebar.com.au). Time Out is
the first café you’ll spy in Melbourne’s prime
meeting place, Federation Square, opposite
Flinders Street Station. Recently renovated,
it’s the place to grab a morning heartstarter
by Brunswick coffee roaster Code Black
(Fed Square timeoutfedsquare.com.au).
L’Hotel Gitan is as cool as its name suggests,
a local pub made over with casual French
fare and Art Deco flair. Be seen over a glass of
sparkling and plate of oysters (32 Commercial
Rd, Prahran, lhotelgitan.com.au).
Close to the track, St Kilda never switches off.
The top end of Acland St, away from the main
drag, is where all the new action is, in a swathe
of sparkling new restaurants. Plug the street
numbers 56-72 Acland St into your GPS and hit
Lona for Barcelona-inspired pintxos and mojitos
(hot tip, order the Flinders Island lamb ribs),
Buena Vista Peruvian Kitchen for lime-cured
snapper ceviche, The Nelson rum bar with its
sheltered terrace, and smoke-it-up shisha pipes
with tasty mezze at 40 Thieves & Co. Finish up
with a taste of Melbourne cheese, a coffeeseasoned pressato, from La Formaggeria micro
cheese lab, on the corner of this hip little strip.
The Grand Prix coincides with the tail end of
the extravagant Melbourne Food & Wine
Festival. Check its website for last minute
events, from cocktail mixing to slicing and
dicing a whole suckling pig. Many are free, all
are delicious (melbournefoodandwine.com.au).
Polepole
Polepole
L’Hotel Gitan
Polepole
L’Hotel Gitan
73
Battle of the
burgers
Nothing gets you back on track after a big
night better than a burger: fat patties,
squishy buns, a slew of slaw and, if you’re
feeling patriotic, a slab of beetroot. But this
is foodie Melbourne, so even the burgers
are an epicurean epic. These three are the
hottest burger joints in town right now:
The Grand Trailer Park Taverna
The CB1 (cheeseburger with one patty)
is a one-hander for the mildly peckish, but hey,
they’ll stack it with a dozen patties if you ask
nicely. The experience ain’t over till you’ve
downed a salted caramel milkshake, with
Makers’ Mark bourbon and a slice of maple
bacon. Park in one of the caravans or out
on the balcony.
87 Bourke St, Melbourne,
grandtrailerpark.com.au
Meatmaiden
Meatmaiden is serious about its meat:
sure you can have a snapper burger with
Kewpie mayo, but forget fish and go big with
a beef cheek sloppy joe, with Swiss cheese
and crisp gherkins.
Basement, 195 Little Collins St, Melbourne,
meatmaiden.com.au
Mr Burger
Let the burger come to you with these
acclaimed burger food trucks. The menu is
simple: meat, extra meat, veg and chillis: top it
off with trucker chips, which come with bacon,
cheese and a special sauce (oooh!) If you’re
not into chasing parked cars, there are also
four stores, in the City, Fitzroy and South Yarra.
Track the trucks at mrburger.com.au
All images this page are The Grand Trailer Park Taverna
75
Shop
Melbourne city’s shopping scene has been
transformed with the opening of Emporium
and The Strand Melbourne arcade, creating
a new home for international brands including
Japan’s street fashion chain Uniqlo and Muji
for fine household kitch, Top Shop from the
UK and New York’s Kate Spade. The top shelf
names are well represented in this part of
town, with London looker Paul Smith and
Coach for seriously gorgeous leathergoods.
The city is now also home to Australia’s first
branch of Swedish fashion staple H&M,
which recently opened in the GPO building
next door, and Australia’s first standalone
Dolce & Gabbana store, all wrapped around
our own Myer and David Jones department
stores, for a power block of shops between
Bourke St Mall and Lonsdale St.
Photograph: Paul Philipson
Emporium
76
Melbourne manages to hold her own, with
local designers Gorman and Scanlan Theodore
also in Emporium. But step outside the big box
and into the laneways to discover the little local
finds that will have you in pole position in the
fashion stakes. Your list should include Habbot
shoes, designed in Melbourne by Annie Abbott
and made in Italy (in The Strand and Royal
Arcade, habbotstudios.com) and seek out
Cathedral Arcade in the Nicholas Building for
Clea Garrick’s bold prints in Limedrop or the
sweetly precise Kuwaii by Brunswick designer
Kristy Barber (37 Swanston St, City, limedrop.
com.au, kuwaii.com.au). Refuel with a bite
of rose-scented Turkish delight in new
Chocomama, down the café-lined Degreaves
St, then snap up your Melbourne souvenirs
at The Melbourne Shop (8 Driver La,
GPO Melbourne) or Melbournalia
(5/50 Bourke St, Melbourne).
77
B
A
Immigration Museum, Scots Wha Hae! exhibition
Play
museumvictoria.com.au/immigrationmuseum)
or see ANZAC Day and the battle of
Gallipoli through the eyes of TurkishAustralian community at ‘Gelibolu’ art
exhibition (No Vacancy Gallery, 34-40 Jane
Bell Lane, Melbourne, no-vacancy.com.au).
Can’t get enough of cars? Shifting Gear:
Design, Innovation and the Australian Car
lines up 23 Aussie icons including the
concept-only Holden Hurricane (1969),
a two-seater sports Bolwell Nagari
and the Chrysler Valiant Charger E49,
the world’s fastest car when it was
released in 1971 (Ian Potter Centre:
NGV Australia. Federation Square. Runs
March 6 – July 12, $15 adults, ngv.vic.gov.au).
If it’s a song and dance you’re after, the big guns
are in town: Strictly Ballroom (Her Majesty’s
Theatre, strictlyballroomthemusical.com) does
a dance-off with Dirty Dancing (Princess Theatre,
dirtydancingaustralia.com), while The Lion
King continues to goes wild (Regent Theatre,
lionking.com.au). For a spur-of-the-moment
show, see what tickets are around on the
day at Halftix (halftixmelbourne.com).
Sniff the sweat from Bon Scott’s
leather jacket in the Scots Wha Hae!
exhibition, a celebration of all things
Scottish at the Immigration Museum
(400 Flinders St, Melbourne
78
Fancy a beer? Thought so: warm up with
the Good Beer Week Gala Showcase on
March 13-14 ahead of a week of brewery
bliss, from March 16 (201 Napier St,
Fitzroy, goodbeerweek.com.au).
A. Unknown
An artist in the Woodville Engineering
Styling Studio works on a post-war car
proposal, in the background can be seen
a blackboard tape outline of the 1942 still
born Holden body for American chassis
c.1943 Private collection, Melbourne.
B. General Motors Company,
Detroit (manufacturer)
United States est. 1908
GM HOLDEN LTD,
Adelaide (coachbuilder)
est. 1931
Pontiac all-enclosed coupe (Silver Streak)
1938
Body designed Hartley Chaplin and
Tom Wylie
Collection of Violet Cecil, Melbourne
All images on this page are of Shifting Gear:
Design, Innovation and the Australian Car exhibition.
79
Honda Australia Pty. Ltd.
ACN 004 759 611 ABN 66 004 759 611
95 Sharps Road, Tullamarine, Victoria, 3043. Freecall 1800 804 954 honda.com.au/cars