Ask Nigel: Jan 23

Dear Yusuke,
First of all, when we recall the great years of Honda in F1, I think we should bear in mind that they were not confined to the Senna-Prost years at McLaren. It's true that, when speaking of Honda, we tend automatically to remember the McLaren-Honda era of 1988-92, but we also need to bear in mind the Williams-Honda era of 1984-87, when first Keke Rosberg, and then Nigel Mansell and Nelson Piquet, won an awful lot of races - indeed, Piquet was the first driver to win the World Championship using a Honda engine.

In fact, it occurs to me that, by looking back on a bit of history, we have already explained - at least in part - why the Honda-related teams of today are achieving so much less than those of the past. Simply, in the modern era Honda has no association with a top team. Whereas Williams and McLaren were absolutely at the top of the tree - and had drivers to match - BAR and Jordan are middle-order teams, and likely to remain so. It is therefore unrealistic to expect - at least in the short term - any return of Honda's glorious past.

As well as that, I confess I do not see Honda in the same light as once I did. Through the great years, there was always the impression of an absolute dedication to engineering, traditionally Honda's creed. If the company's engines tended to be on the large and heavy side, compared with the opposition, they had a fantastic reputation for sheer horsepower, and also for incredible reliability. Just remember 1988, when Senna (eight wins) and Prost (seven) accounted for all but one of the Grands Prix...

Somehow, Honda today doesn't have the same 'feel' about it as was the case in the days of Mr Kawamoto. Yes, the company is still involved in Formula 1, but you don't sense the commitment that was once overpoweringly there.

More to the point, Honda is currently nowhere when it comes to horsepower. In 2001 the BAR and Jordan drivers frequently complained that they were being left behind by such as BMW and Ferrari, and I'm hearing that the latest V10 is - so far, anyway - proving a disappointment...



Dear David,
Yes, you're right, the mood at the McLaren launch was very upbeat, and initial impressions of the new MP4/17 seem to be very positive. In McLaren terms, this is quite a radical time, in fact, for the team has a new driver - Kimi Raikkonen - for the first time since 1996, and has also changed its tyre supplier, from Bridgestone to Michelin.

First things first. Although his form last year was very up and down, Mika Hakkinen's presence will inevitably be very much missed, for he was invariably McLaren's leading driver, and had been so since Ayrton Senna left the team at the end of 1993. His very absence will take a little getting used to - as also will the presence of Raikkonen.

David Coulthard, however, remains at McLaren, for a seventh straight season, and it will be fascinating to observe the psychological effect of Hakkinen's absence on him. Although McLaren, like Williams, traditionally never nominate a number one driver, as such, DC is now very obviously the senior driver, and I will watch with great interest the effect of this on his confidence - which should rise.

It is never easy for a team to get used to a new 'technical partner' in F1, but I expect one as experienced and expert as McLaren swiftly to establish a working relationship with Michelin. In 2001, while there was no suggestion that Bridgestone was supplying 'special' tyres to Ferrari - such a thing would be forbidden by the rules, after all - still there was a distinct suspicion that the Bridgestones on offer to all the teams were increasingly 'tailored' to suit the Ferrari.

Nothing new in this, of course, and understandable, in the sense that Bridgestone clearly saw Ferrari as its best hope in the fight against Michelin; equally understandable, though, was that other teams weren't too impressed by the way things were going.

Now, McLaren, like Williams, are with Michelin, a company with a good reputation for 'pooling' test information. I'd say this will work to the advantage of both teams - while Bridgestone now finds itself with but one top team: Ferrari.

If there is a worry at McLaren just now, I'd say that it lies with horsepower. Last year Mercedes did not introduce a new engine, but rather a revamped one, and it was plain - particularly at the quick tracks, like Hockenheim and Monza - that Coulthard and Hakkinen were struggling, having to trim their cars right out, in the search of straightline speed, and thus being inevitably short of grip.

For 2002 there is a new Mercedes V10, but I'm hearing that so far it is not producing the sort of figures necessary to compete with the best - which is once more expected to be the BMW. Last week Norbert Haug denied suggestions that it was 50bhp down, but allowed that it 'still needs a bit of work'.

However, it's early days yet. And I don't have the slightest doubt that McLaren will win races this year - it's just a matter of how many.



Dear Oscar,
I have to say I was pretty surprised when Jean Alesi told me he was going to the DTM for 2002 - but, then again, probably I shouldn't have been, because that's Jean!

I remember distinctly his one and only 'touring car' race to date, which was at Pau in the early '90s, at the wheel of an Alfa Romeo. When I saw him at the next Grand Prix, he was still seething about it. "I hated it - everything about it! The standard of driving was terrible - just people driving into each other, trying to push cars off the track. Believe me, I will never drive a touring car again!"

See what I mean?

When I had an 'off record' chat with Jean last summer, he told me he was thinking more and more about CART. At that stage there was not the slightest interest in touring cars, sportscars, or anything of the kind. It had to be single-seaters.

However, I sort of understand why he has had a change of heart. For one thing, at the moment CART appears to be on the skids; for another, the technical spec of the DTM cars - devoid of all the 'gizmos' he hated so much in contemporary F1 - appeals to him strongly. While one could never imagine Jean Alesi in some be-winged Vauxhall Astra, a Mercedes DTM car has about 500bhp, and can be steered to some considerable degree on the throttle, which strongly appeals to him.

It has been said many times that Jean is the last of the 'old-fashioned racers', and I think he'll enjoy himself in the DTM in a way he has plainly not, for some years, in F1. He has an absolutely competitive car, a truly formidable team mate - in the shape of Bernd Schneider - and I think his presence in the series will do it an enormous amount of good. Norbert Haug is to be congratulated on putting the deal together, on bringing a superstar to the DTM. Like everyone else, though, I'll very much miss Alesi's presence in the F1 paddocks.



Dear Stuart,
As Patrick Head says, with some sadness, he never had time really to get to know Ayrton Senna - although time enough, from test sessions, and working with him at the early races of 1994, to appreciate just how extraordinary a man this was.

Patrick, though, is also an extraordinary man, and no one has any doubt that he would have established a great working relationship with Ayrton. In every way, he was exactly the kind of racing driver to appeal to Patrick: absolutely meticulous - one might say 'obessive' - in his approach to his job, in terms of preparing his car for both qualifying and race conditions, extremely hard-working and professional, and, of course, as hard a pure racer as ever we have seen.

I've no doubt whatever that they would have brought out the best in each other in time - but time, tragically, was what Ayrton didn't have.



Dear Karen,
First of all, I agree with you absolutely about Martin Brundle's ability as a commentator. I think he has become quite brilliant at the job, and hope that he continues in it for years to come.

As for Martin the racing driver, I thought him extremely good - and on occasion somewhat more than that - but he was not a great driver, in the Senna-Prost-Schumacher sense of the word. And...I could be wrong, but I suspect that he would essentially agree with that assessment. One of Martin's most attractive qualities has always been his absolute honesty, not least about himself.

Certainly, his accident at Dallas in 1984, his first season in F1, hardly helped his career - even now, nearly 18 years on, the first few minutes of his day are physically painful - and I'll agree with you that much of his career seemed to be dogged by missed opportunities and bad luck. But in his time Martin had some extremely talented team mates, notably Michael Schumacher and Mika Hakkinen, and although he sometimes had the beating of both, over the season those two had the edge on him.

Certainly I think Brundle was worthy of winning Grands Prix - and a far better driver than many who have. He very nearly went to Williams for 1993, but in the end Frank decided to go for Damon Hill, perhaps because Damon had been on board as test driver for some time by then, and to some extent was a known quantity, as far as team members were concerned. He was also desperate to get a good F1 drive (whereas Brundle was already established), and that probably means that he was cheap!

I very much admired the fact that Martin - whom we had thought 'retired' as a driver - went back to Le Mans last year, to drive the Bentley. He took it very seriously, too, getting himself extremely fit, and so on, and he wasn't half quick in that car...