Fry wants to 'earn his money' as leader

Although Jenson Button and Rubens Barrichello qualified second and third on the grid, a lack of pace in the race, allied to problems in the pits, left them out of the hunt for a podium finish. In the end, Button finished seventh and Barrichello tenth.

Fry, who said before the season started that he wanted the team to be challenging for wins, claimed he was ready to prove his mettle in the team's bid to get their season back on track.

"I'm a big boy," he said. "I've had 30 years in the motor industry and sometimes it gets tough. There are times when the bosses really do need to hold their heads up; these are the times when you earn you money.

"The momentum is there, we just need a few things to go right for us, which aren't happening at the moment. We don't have any huge issues on motivation either from the team members, or from the drivers.

"F1 is the pinnacle of motor sport and we're trying to get from third place to first or second, and it's tough. You have to dig deep and get on with it."

Honda are holding a motivational meeting at their Brackley headquarters today, to discuss their current issues and try and plot their way forward.

Fry denied there was any need for a knee-jerk reaction or for staff changes.

When asked whether there was a need for heads to roll because of the team's problems, he said: "No, certainly not. We've got a fast car, there are a few things today that happened that were exceptional.

"The lollipop man has done 300 of these live pitstops, as well as practice ones, and he's never made a mistake. It was just an unfortunate error. Jenson was straight out of the car giving him a big hug, it's just one of those things that happen from time to time. You have to exclude that."

Fry suggests that the key to a Honda recovery is in their RA106 being able to extract more performance from its tyres - and the team will be focusing on this area at Silverstone testing this week.

"The Renault is unlocking more pace than the other Michelin runners, and that's to do with the set-up of the cars," Fry explained.

"One team has found a better way to use them than the rest. The issues we're suffering are very little and different to the last race, the rest of us need to unlock that potential.

"We think we know what the issue is, but F1 cars are incredibly complicated and they are not something you can change overnight. We believe we know what it is, and we took some small steps between Australia and here. And in Silverstone, we'll be doing more experiments.

"Rome wasn't built in a day, and it's fairly fundamental. This is science, not art, and we'll be running experiments in Silverstone this week."

Fry also said he had no doubt that Button would not let the disappointment of the team's current form let his motivation slip.

"There is no indication whatsoever that Jenson is anything other than his usual determined self. Before we came to Imola, I had a long chat with him on the phone and he's stronger.

"This is tough, it's the pinnacle, and if it was easy, then every one would be doing it. We're here with a seven-year-old team, and Jenson is aspiring to be number one.

"You have to have the challenging spirit, and that is the whole ethos of Honda, and that's what we're trying to do. We are relatively inexperienced in comparison to the top guys, but you have to shoot to the stars."