Extreme Makeover: Honda Edition

When former BAR boss David Richards famously recounted Benjamin Franklin's quote that 'the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results' while talking on why he felt it necessary to drop Jacques Villeneuve, he had no idea the phrase would become something of a thorn in Honda Racing's side ever since.

Time and again, especially this season, as each passing race brings further disappointment, the team management have been pushed about just what they need to do differently to turn things around.

For a while the team were resistant to the calls - insisting that they knew what their problems were and that solutions could be found. But as one difficulty rolled into the next, from the vibrating clutch in Bahrain, the tyre heat issues in Australia, the pitstop error in Imola, to Jenson Button's qualifying disasters in Monaco and Silverstone, the resistance to the idea of change steadily began to crumble.

Indeed, patience at Honda's headquarters in Japan, ahead of a shareholders meeting in a few weeks, appears to be running out.

Honda's engineering director Shuhei Nakamoto did not hold back on admitting this after Sunday's British Grand Prix, when asked about what kind of reception he is getting from his Japanese bosses at the moment.

"There is lots and lots of pressure," he admitted. "Of course they are not happy. In fact, they are very angry because of this year's results. We have needed to show them what we are planning to do."

Now, however, on the back of a season that has seen the team decline from potential race winners in Bahrain to non points-scorers at Silverstone last weekend, the team have begun to swing into action a master plan that they hope will turn the corner.

Consideration for a restructuring had already been given with the end of commissioning for their new full-scale wind tunnel at Brackley two weeks ago, meaning that more focus could finally be put on technical improvements. But the desire to get things sorted crystallised at Silverstone last Saturday afternoon when Button's season hit what he hopes will be its low-point.

Just a day after the British driver responded to a journalist's remark that things could surely not get any worse than they had at Monaco with a "yes, they can" - they did.

From the disaster of starting 14th at Monaco, Button failed to even make it past the first knockout qualifying session for his home Grand Prix after he ran out of time to improve on an earlier lap. More than disappointing, it was downright embarrassing... because apart from the Super Aguris he was slowest overall.

That incident on Saturday afternoon delivered a very public example of the kind of problems that Honda Racing have been suffering from this year. As Nakamoto says about the underlying issues of 2006: "Technically, sometimes we couldn't understand things deeply, but sometimes the engineers make confusion or things like that."

In public, the blame for the Silverstone incident was laid squarely at both Button for failing to have gone quick enough on his first run and on the team's bad luck in getting called for what turned out to be a lengthy FIA weighbridge check right at the end of the session. It was the latter event that they claim left them without enough time for Button to complete another flying lap before the session ended.

According to sources within the team, however, Honda Racing were not completely innocent of blame for failing to get Button out on time.

With no official timing figures of what happened, here is the rough breakdown of what we understand happened.

Qualifying Countdown

• 5 minutes and 30 seconds to go

Jenson Button is called in for an FIA weight check at the top end of the pitlane. The governing body have agreed that cars will not be called in within the final five minutes of the session for weighing, just because it could prevent drivers going out again to set another fast lap if they are in the drop zone. Button is well outside this five minute window.

• 3 minutes and 55 seconds to go

The FIA weight checks normally take around 45 seconds, but for an unknown reason Button's check takes one minute and 35 seconds. He is eventually wheeled out of the FIA area and pushed down to the Honda Racing garage.

• 3 minutes and 25 seconds to go

Button is wheeled into his garage and the team begin calculating exactly how long they need for him to exit the pits, complete an out-lap and a flying lap before the chequered flag ends the session.

• 3 minutes and 10 seconds to go

The team finish their calculations about how much time they need to get Button ready and work out it is about 3 minutes and 20 seconds. They make the call that there is not enough time left to send Button on his way, and the British driver resigns himself to starting 19th for his home Grand Prix.

It is the final 15 seconds of that timeline where the team's big error appears to have been made. In deciding to analyse exactly how long Button needed to complete his lap, they moved themselves outside of the actual window of time when he could be sent out.

What they should have done, aware that time was quite tight, was perform a simple race-style refuelling and tyre change in the pits and send Button on his way immediately. Yes, it would have been tight even then for Button to get his flying lap done before the track was neutralised by the chequered flag, but there was nothing to lose.

Plus, if Button had gone quicker in sector one and two before just missing out on crossing the finish line by a matter of seconds, there would have been more than enough justification in not only blaming the lengthy FIA weight check but in also complaining about it.

The dithering in analysing what they needed to do is symptomatic of a team that is not completely sharp with making the split second decisions that can make the difference between success and failure. It is the thinking on your feet that has given Ferrari's Ross Brawn and Renault's Pat Symonds their fearsome reputations.

And the qualifying blunder highlighted that the team were perhaps suffering by putting much responsibility on their own technical director Geoff Willis.

Unlike Renault, where technical director Bob Bell's responsibility is mainly designing the car, with engineering director Symonds running the show at weekends, Honda Racing have previously given Willis the unenviable task of both design and operation.

One rival technical boss, speaking anonymously, admitted last weekend that he was astounded by such a policy.

"It is no surprise they are in such trouble with the way their technical staff are organised," he said. "Geoff Willis has too broad a responsibility, he has too much on his plate, and that means he does not have time to focus on the areas that he needs to improve the car."

Honda finally appear to have woken up to that fact - especially after Silverstone qualifying - and now think it was a mistake in the best overall interests of the team to have had Willis steering the ship on race weekends.

Unable to give himself the kind of complete devotion that someone like Symonds can towards strategy and operational brilliance, Willis was being put in a position where he was jack-of-all-trades, master of none. And every minute that was spent trying to help run the team at the events was another minute that Willis was not working on improving the car.

Nakamoto confesses that the team's approach was wrong.

"Geoff did not have enough time to concentrate on the development areas, so we have to make time for him," he said. "Everyone has to help each other with this because we are one team.

"Before, it was too much work for Geoff. He had to do everything and it was too much."

The decision was duly taken that Willis's time was best spent on delivering aerodynamic improvements - the key area in modern F1 car performance. It comes amid suspicions that some of the problems with Honda Racing's RA106 could revolve around the front wing stalling when more angle is applied to the flaps.

That fact was highlighted at the Spanish Grand Prix, when Button complained of huge understeer on his final run after the team had just added more wing following his previous run.

This critical element may be the key to improvements that Willis hinted about after Spain - and could be solved with a mammoth effort in the new wind tunnel. Team boss Nick Fry certainly thinks the best use of Willis's time is with him working in Brackley rather than at races.

"Last year we had a car with some real fundamental problems and it was really all hands to the pumps," explains Fry. "It was necessary for Geoff not only to work at home base. A lot of the problems were quite complicated and it really required him to focus on the total picture, because we were not actually sure where the problem was.

"If we had known it was just one thing, then we could have worked on that. Last year it was really 'find the problems and then fix them'. This year is a slightly different issue.

"The car itself we believe to be very good in lots of ways, but there are specific areas that we think need improvement. And asking Geoff to focus on one of those that happens to be his specialist subject, if you like, is the best thing to do."

The decision to get Willis focused on the wind tunnel was easy - the difficulty the team faced was in twinning that with a way of improving their operational capabilities at the race track.

One solution was in simply going up to someone like Renault's Symonds and offering him a blank cheque to switch camps. Honda's answer, though, has come in the form of Jacky Eeckelaert.

The Belgian engineer joined the team last October as Chief Engineer of Advanced Research Program and has vast experience in engineering and operations. His F1 career began in 1996, when he helped Peugeot's F1 testing programme before becoming coordinator between the French car manufacturer and Jordan.

From there he moved to Prost and then Sauber from 2000, where he was head of vehicle engineering. He has spent the last few months at Honda analysing the operation and has joined the team track-side at the last four Grands Prix. At Silverstone last weekend, he was given the task of observing the team's operation, simply so that he could gauge what needed to be changed.

"Jacky is taking over some of that role at the circuits that Geoff used to do, which is in terms of overseeing the race engineers," explains Fry. "It doesn't mean he is doing the race engineers' job, but he does have good race engineering experience and he is a good asset to deploy in just looking over the shoulders of the race engineers and making sure they are making the right set-up and other decisions."

Eeckelaert's huge experience will be a bonus to Honda Racing in tidying up their operational weaknesses - and his assistance on that front will of course allow Willis more time to devote to car improvements.

The short-term result is that Willis will now skip both the Canadian and United States Grands Prix so he can devote himself 100 percent to the wind tunnel, while Eeckelaert will begin a new role heading up the engineering operations over a weekend.

Honda are certainly pinning a lot of hopes in Willis being able to deliver some big steps over the coming weeks from the wind tunnel.

"The final commissioning of the new wind tunnel was a good catalyst for change," explains Fry. "Up until now we had the 50 percent scale model wind tunnel, and frankly it is in some ways amazing that we have got this far with the piece of equipment we had.

"I think you have to look at teams like McLaren, Renault, Williams, Sauber and Red Bull. They have all had a full-size wind tunnel, in some cases for a few years, and I think for Geoff to get the car at the earlier part of this season in the top three, potentially better than that, was credit to him.

"With the new wind tunnel coming on stream, and having spent a significant amount of money on that piece of equipment, it is natural that he should focus on getting the best out of it. Geoff's background is clearly aero, so yes, it is natural for him focus on that, at least in the short term. Aero is one of the big three areas in F1 for a potential advantage.

"Is Geoff only working on that with someone else doing the rest of the car? Absolutely not. It is just that the rest of the car is pretty good, but the aero is the bit where we can get the biggest bang for the buck."

Fry is hoping that the first products from the wind tunnel will be ready in time for the Canadian Grand Prix, providing they pass track testing at Monza this week.

"I believe that you will see some aero improvements to the car in Montreal, and if Geoff manages to do that, it will be a real achievement, given the fact that the thing only started running in earnest two weeks ago.

"Literally two full weeks ago was the first time we put a full sized car in [the new wind tunnel], and it started to produce meaningful results. In two weeks to have bits on the car will be pretty good going. Will that be sufficient to pull us up with Ferrari and Renault? No, but there will be another step for Magny-Cours.

"We will be track testing some bits in Monza this week, but because the wind tunnel is full size, it does give us more ability to move quickly."

Beyond the specific restructuring of Willis and Eeckelaert's roles, Fry admits too that the team are actively looking at boosting their staffing levels in a bid to get the personnel they need. His comments suggest they know exactly whom they are aiming for.

"We are always looking for new people, because to win the world championship we need the best people in the business, and obviously by hiring the best people in the business you do two things.

"One is you strengthen yourself, and the other is you weaken your opposition, as part of a competitive strategy. Yes, that is being pursued.

"Someone like Jacky is the kind of person who comes to our attention, who is available and is looking for a new challenge. It's a good thing to do. It is not a single whammy improving yourself. If you select them from the right place, then you also weaken the opposition."

And the aggressive recruitment of staff is not the only policy that will likely lead to them raising eyebrows at other teams in the forthcoming weeks.

At the beginning of this season, Honda took a fair bit of flak for their decision to go it alone on their Michelin tyre choice - and opting for rubber that was different to both Renault and McLaren. Such a tactic famously left Symonds feeling that if he had made the mistakes Honda did at the start of the season, then he would have been looking for another job.

"One of the reasons for our (Renault's) success is down to our procedures and discipline," said Symonds in an interview with the Daily Telegraph at the San Marino Grand Prix.

"Honda have a car-and-driver combination that is very quick in qualifying, but not quite so well-conditioned for the race. That is what we saw during the winter. Headline times were good but not quite so impressive on long runs.

"It is an indication of how differing operating procedures come into it. Honda have made three incorrect tyre decisions in the opening races. You can have the best car in the world but if you stick the wrong tyres on it, it is not going to win.

"If I had done the same, I would probably be looking for another job. There is no room for error on any front in F1. It is surprising, particularly as there is far more co-operation on tyre testing this year, much more visibility of others' test results. I don't know if it shows a certain arrogance or what?"

Symonds' confusion about Honda was further compounded by the fact that the team had use of Anthony Davidson's data from Friday practice.

"What surprises me is that Honda have a distinct advantage with a third car," added Symonds. "I accept they have had some problems, but the advantage of that third car is enormous. I would trade most of our in-season testing for the ability to run a third car at races."

Despite Honda changing their policy from Imola and falling in line with Renault and McLaren's choices, Honda have still not found they are any nearer getting on top of their tyre issues.

Nakamoto admits that tyres, and in particular the fact that their rubber consistently operates between 10 and 15 degrees cooler than Renault's, is chief among their concerns now - and hopefully something that the restructuring can help address.

"It is difficult to understand how to use the Michelin tyre this year, we are struggling on how to use this tyre," says Nakamoto, who confesses that the development direction of Michelin is obviously being led by Renault.

"Now Renault is top user and of course Michelin have to concentrate on Renault, it is a standard way for racing, especially with Ferrari getting stronger.

"So Michelin's way is a correct thing, and also they understand our problem and situation and they are also helping us. So they concentrate on Renault, but they are trying different compounds and constructions.

"Michelin help us a lot in order to understand how to use their tyres. Now we are getting better, but we still need a little bit of time."

Nakamoto thinks, however, that the tyre issue cannot be viewed in complete isolation - because an increase in levels of downforce will have an impact on the performance of the rubber.

"Tyres are a key problem, but inevitably if we have enough downforce then this problem will be gone. Our downforce is a little bit lower than that of the competition."

The short term answer is that Honda have decided to re-adopt their strategy of going it alone on tyre choice - feeling that their stronger performances at the start of the season were evidence that their original policy was probably correct for them.

Says Fry: "We took our fair share of criticism for our tyre choices at the start of the season, but we now feel that we were better off with that strategy. Michelin has indicated it is still willing to accommodate a different development direction if that's what we want to pursue, and that's what we now intend to do."

Fry takes a breath before adding: "Doing what's best for us has to be the right thing."

As a concept, with change finally taking place at Honda, that does not sound insane at all...

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