The 2006 Teams Preview

After winning the 2005 World Championship, the team headed into the off-season in celebratory mood, and besides the marketing department getting on with making the most of the win, they had a quiet start to the winter break.

Early announcements that the team would not run their new V8 engine until the 2006 chassis was ready in January led to widespread speculation that the team were running behind schedule, and that they would not be ready for the new season. It led to repeated announcements that the team was on track, that they knew their approach was sound, and that an interim car was a misuse of resources that should be going in to the new challenger... an approach that more resembles a low-budget team than the reigning World Champions.

This, of course, is true, considering that Renault actually is a low-budget team - at least amongst their manufacturer-backed peers, if not in comparison to the recently departed Minardi and Jordan. The approach is oriented towards gaining maximum results from minimum spend: get the right people in the right places; make the right basic decisions on designing the car; ensure the development program is in place.

Renault's engineering director Pat Symonds spent half of December defending the old car: having taken a conservative approach by defending the team's early points, whilst it secured the championships, it left McLaren with more wins and a reputation for the faster - if not more successful - contender; leading to Symonds declaring that Fernando Alonso should take the opposite approach in 2006.

Which leads to another interesting development: on the nineteenth of December, McLaren pre-emptively announced Alonso's move to join them in Woking for 2007, which rather seemed to put a dampener on the celebratory spirit for the team. Having said that, the team recovered quickly; self-declared in the fight for a seat after 2006, Giancarlo Fisichella suddenly found considerable support from the team: Symonds has said his time is coming, and his voice is given more strength in the team media releases.

Having already announced Heikki Kovalainen as third driver, the team continued to build him in the eyes of the media as a rising star and potential driver in 2007: they'll be offering test drives to other talented youngsters in the coming year in order to continue the ethos of developing drivers, rather than just buying them in. Cynics might comment that having Team Principal Flavio Briatore searching out and managing drivers careers independently from the team means he is getting paid twice for the same job, but there is little doubting his track record for spotting winners.

Early December saw the team testing parts on their old car, running a restricted V10 engine. It lead to concern that the V10 option may well be a better solution than the newly developed V8... a familiar theme with many of the teams through the off-season.

Nonetheless, persistent testing has revealed the car to be a strong contender, fantastically reliable and quick in most conditions. The launch of the R26 on the 10th of January saw the team running their new engine for the first time - and continued to demonstrate impressive pace and reliability. Except for a rear wing failure that revealed a structural flaw that limited testing for a spell, the team has been piling on miles and look set to maintain a front running position for the year ahead.

Although the team originally anticipated McLaren being their rivals in 2006, the impressive pace of Honda since launch, and the odd excellent lap from Ferrari, shows that the there is going to be competition at the front as the season wears on. They respect the Cosworth engine in the Williams car too, though they expect to develop a little faster than this rival, at least.

With Renault's F1 President Patrick Faure announcing his retirement in the second half of the year, the team is looking to project controlled assurance and continuity off the track, whilst delivering consistently on track.

Summary: Renault set out to show that the championships can be done on a budget, given the right spend on the right people, and the right resources to deliver - which they did very tidily in 2005; now they are up against it to defend both titles in 2006 against tough, well-funded competition.

Objectives: Win both championships again.

As one of the two most secretive teams on the paddock, knowing what is happening at McLaren is always tricky through the off-season, yet, frequently, the Grapevine has been right this year.

Even as the teams packed up to leave the final race of 2005, rumours were flying that Chief Designer Adrian Newey had not come to terms for renewing his contract with the outfit. These were confirmed by the guru himself, who hinted that whilst he would be in Formula One next year, it may not be with McLaren. Eventually, Red Bull confirmed they had signed him, and rather than just send him off on gardening leave, he was moved on to developing the Centreline Downwash Generating wing for the FIA.

McLaren then had to defend themselves from rumours that aerodynamicist Nicholas Tombazis would follow Newey. In fact, it turns out he was headed to Ferrari, and to add insult to injury, McLaren then had to move fast to retain their head of aerodynamic development, Peter Prodromou, for the remainder of the year, after discovering he had signed a deal with Red Bull.

Rumours of a brain drain in Woking continued, despite new signings including Rob Taylor - the designer of Red Bull's RB1 - as a Senior Design Team Leader; the bright light of Adrian Newey is a tough bulb to replace, in which light it makes sense that the team moved to bolster morale with the news that they had signed reigning World Champion Fernando Alonso from Renault for 2007.

Of course, that immediately made it clear that either Juan Pablo Montoya or Kimi Raikkonen is going to be out of a drive, sparking rumours that Raikkonen has signed a contract with Ferrari, pending Schumacher's retirement, and is in discussion with Renault or not. Furthermore, fully half the grid have expressed an interest in hiring Montoya: unless McLaren move to lock in at least one of these drivers, they could find themselves with a complete change in a year. Neither driver has made any effort to dispel the rumours, and they continue to flourish...

On a slightly different note, Gary Paffett finally landed himself a deserved test role at the team, following an excellent showing in testing; correspondingly, Alexander Wurz decided he was surplus to requirements and moved on to Williams.

Financially the team seems to have a bright future ahead. They signed Vodafone as title sponsors for 2007, stealing some of Ferrari's thunder and establishing a sponsor that can credibly replace West. Mercedes continue to play a significant role as an investor, and will be extending their involvement further in the team - though this deal is likely to be related to road car production at the outfit. And the team has joined forces with Direxiv to create the Direxiv Dynamic Wellbeing Programme, aimed at improving the fitness, health wellbeing and diet of their team members (which, if McLaren's reputation is accurate, may possibly be as close to Big Brother getting involved as it sounds).

As has been recent custom, the team went testing with an interim livery, which was launched with as much pomp and ceremony as most of the lesser teams reserve for their actual launches, and considering the state of their showing in testing, this makes sense. The original V8 engine delivered by Mercedes managed to be the antithesis of the modern concept: underpowered and unreliable. Early testing saw the team run through engines by the truckload as they worked to get miles on the car and engine.

When the engine has been running, the rest of the car has offered other problems. Not what the team was looking for, after declaring their intent to deliver reliability, following the problems last season that many believe prevented Raikkonen from taking the title.

On the positive side, Mercedes worked hard to sort out their misplaced power unit, and had a new one available in mid-February; this not only delivered 60 bhp more (bringing it close to the front runners) but actually has the potential to do a race distance without becoming an expensive firework: indeed, with the team able to get some decent running in, testing times have tumbled and the car is actually looking quite competitive.

The second livery launch on the tenth of February revealed an impressive livery that will at least ensure the car gets good coverage from the media this year; the chrome basis means the team is finally delivering properly on the 'Silver Arrows' moniker, and there will be no excuse for drivers who say that could not see the car coming in their mirrors. In fact, on sunny days, they may be dazzled into making mistakes!

Summary: Always a class act, be careful not to write off McLaren. They are close to the pace and able to develop quickly. They have a pair of drivers who can make a difference and should win races: moreover, should the reliability issues be truly resolved, they cannot be written off as championship contenders.

Objectives: Win both championships.

As the season ended, Ferrari made it clear that they would not be releasing Rubens Barrichello before year's end. It is hard to tell from the outside looking in whether it was due to the outfit wanting Honda to part with more of their cash to get hold of Barrichello early, or from genuine respect for their counterpart and an intent to inconvenience them. Either way, it left Barrichello out of action for the rest of 2005.

The team seemed outwardly unfazed by the loss of Vodafone as a key sponsor; they were not prepared to offer title status to the telecommunications company, preferring to reserve that for current sponsor Philip Morris. It did not prevent Ross Brawn from calling for further cost cuts in the face of spending by Toyota and tightening budgets at Ferrari: particularly ironic as he was vocal in defending the team's right to spend as much they liked a handful of years ago when they had the deepest pockets in the paddock!

Financially, even without Vodafone, the team is not exactly badly off. They have extended their partnership with Acer and brought Martini back to the sport as sponsors. Through some very careful politicking, they are aligning themselves as a privateer outfit (a Ferrari presumably being classed an accessory): apparently, privateers are due to receive extra revenues under the forthcoming Concorde Agreement.

Rory Byrne's long announced retirement has come and gone with the engineer taking a change in role; he is now a consultant with the company, following a mandate that covers both the race team and the road cars. The latest car was officially designed by Aldo Costa, and Nicholas Tombazis has been rehired, now as Chief Designer, despite McLaren's denials concerning his departure from Woking.

Once the 2005 season ended, the team wasted no time in getting on with testing. They had an interim car available for running the V8 engine shortly after the final Grand Prix, which immediately impressed returning driver Felipe Massa, and later Michael Schumacher. They ran variations on their older 2004 car as well as the 2005 chassis. The older car was a stellar performer, and the Bridgestone tyres being tested borrowed considerably from the older concepts of that year. They have run almost continuously at numerous venues in an attempt to recover lost ground on tyres and develop a winning concept with the new chassis. And from the results, it seems that the team can often put together solid qualifying lap performances - though there are questions over their race distance pace.

Of course, pace is only half the picture. In their quest for speed, it seems that the team is displaying a rather unFerrari-like fragility. Test driver Luca Badoer crashed heavily - two days in a row - from suspension failures; testing in Bahrain saw Schumacher spend more time out of the car than in it, as numerous failures (including engine vibrations playing havoc with clutch electronics) conspired to prevent serious running: getting it all ironed out for the first event is looking like a tough proposition.

The new car was launched relatively quietly, with limited feedback to the public from the drivers. In practice, the car has been pretty quick, setting some impressive times. Schumacher seems pleased, despite the gremlins, and Massa was immediately on the same pace.

With the return of tyre changes in races, Ferrari are confident they have a program that lets them improve consistently, particularly now there are other major teams running the same rubber who can share the load: this resolves the biggest puzzle piece that eluded them last year.

Summary: Ferrari are showing occasional form; although Bridgestone is currently behind the pace of Michelin, the team has a credible challenge and determined drivers who should have chances to win races. If they have the tyres, then the car is a potential championship winner.

Objectives: Return to winning ways; championships not impossible if the tyre program delivers.

Shortly after the season ended, Toyota formally announced their move to Bridgestone, getting the ball rolling for them to be delivered their first tyres.

Retaining Ralf Schumacher (now without manager Willi Weber) and Jarno Trulli gives the team consistency at the front, and with Ricardo Zonta and Olivier Panis keeping third driver and testing roles, they have consistency in the test teams too. This may not be the most electric line-up on the grid, but they are solid - and very quick on their day.

Financially, the team continues to show the way forward; Toyota are investing considerable amounts in to the team, but they are also well-sponsored besides, with deals including an upgraded relationship with Intel, who are now sponsoring the team.

Like others along the pitlane, the team expressed concerns that the V10 may have some advantage in the forthcoming season. This concern may even have some bearing, considering the strength of the original Toyota V10, but the Cosworth V10 in use doesn't have the same power; their complaints dried up as it became clear during tests that the V8 is at least on a par, if not a distinct advantage.

Perhaps no surprise, Toyota finally decided Gustav Brunner was surplus to requirements: the designer was infamously poached from Minardi in 2001, but never really delivered to his reputation and was effectively superseded when Mike Gascoyne arrived.

The TF106 was launched at the end of November - considerably ahead of their rivals. It sparked comments among the paddock that the team had jumped the gun, but Mike Gascoyne defended the approach: it worked in 2005, and it will work again. The mechanical elements of the final package are all assembled and being tested together, so maximum time can be put in to identifying performance problems and reliability issues. On the other hand, the car runs with an interim aerodynamic package as the definitive article spends as much time as possible being worked on in the wind tunnel...

Indeed, after considerable testing, where the team discovered and resolved plenty of reliability issues, they put their revised aero package on the car around the middle of February, and seem pleased with the results. They are expecting to have a B version of the chassis (required to maximise the impact of the move to Bridgestone) available for the Monaco Grand Prix. The team has considerable funds to spend on development, and they are pulling out all the stops to ensure that they are able to improve relative to the competition as the year progresses.

Summary: It may take a while to get to grips with the subtleties of the Bridgestone tyres over race distances, but the car is quick in qualifying trim. There should be some solid qualifying sessions early, but good finishes, perhaps a win, ought to come later in the year on the back of strong, sustained development.

Objectives: Win a race. Beat Ferrari.

As BMW head off to run their own team, Williams discover themselves firmly back in the independent team fold - along with the double hit to the budget of having to buy an engine, and pay for any development they would like to see from the manufacturer.

With Cosworth cut loose and insufficient time to arrange the much anticipated Toyota engine deal, the match-up seems good for both teams. Cosworth are intent on demonstrating that they can produce a top-of-the-line engine on a fraction of the budget of their well-moneyed competition, whilst Williams are looking to gain respectable results without having to spend a fortune of their tight budget on the engine alone.

Naturally, the team has not been sitting on their laurels about ensuring they have the funds to be competitive. Apart from the phenomenal cash settlement from Jenson Button to get out of his contract to drive for the team, Williams have pursued the other options open to them. Signing up to Bernie Ecclestone's revised Concorde Agreement for 2008 onwards not only commits the team to the future of the sport, but brings an unspecified cash bonus in the meanwhile. Selling a significant part of the team's memorabilia (including cars driven by Hill and Mansell in their championship years) also helped considerably with funding, and the team have pursued their sponsors.

The deals with Reuters, QinetiQ and Oris have been extended, and new deals struck with Japanese Bluetooth telecommunications specialist Mobilecast Corporation and power tools manufacturer DeWalt; PPG Industries has agreed to extend their contract to supply the team.

To the frustration of Antonio Pizzonia, Williams began the off-season by announcing that Nico Rosberg would have the second racing seat, and on a long term contract at that. The Brazilian let off steam by lambasting the testing pace of the new incumbent, then seems to have taken his eyes off the ball and dropped clean off the map.

An excellent test by Narain Karthikeyan in December saw the Indian outpace Rosberg and earn a second test - where he promptly outpaced Mark Webber. Although clearly targeting the third driver role, when Alexander Wurz was confirmed in that seat, Karthikeyan continued working out the details, and was signed as the team's second test driver... followed shortly after by a sponsorship deal with the huge Indian conglomerate Tata.

Whilst on the subject of testing, Williams - or rather, Cosworth - have impressed as the off-season has drawn on. The new V8 is delivering power to match any and already revving over 20,000 rpm, clearly delivering the groundwork for Cosworth's 2006 mandate, which is to impress Williams so much that they stay with them rather than take up a customer option with Toyota...

Despite some slower tests early on, particularly as the new seamless shift gearbox caused problems, the whole package has not been too far off the pace recently, with some very quick laps; although the team has rarely shone for a whole test, they have demonstrated the car is capable of a good turn of speed when they are not too fragile to finish the program. The prognosis seems to be for a good start to the season, but without manufacturer backing to develop the engine there are question marks over what they will be able to deliver through the long, tough season ahead.

Summary: Losing manufacturer backing has left Williams compelled to make a number of decisions based on budget that, otherwise, might have been different - but they have been in this spot before, so it comes as no surprise that they have driven some very hard bargains and will still be aiming to deliver a few surprises in the year ahead. Cosworth has delivered on their performance promises, so Williams should find opportunities to spoil parties, at least at the start of the year.

Objectives: Points finishes with regular podiums, and hopefully a race win.

Heading in to the off-season, Jenson Button moved to make Rubens Barrichello feel welcome when he finally arrived - by giving up his claim on the number eleven for the following season. This is the number Barrichello raced under with the most success in his early career.

Perhaps this is an example of how Honda are looking to move forward: as a team. Barrichello may have gone to Ferrari under the illusion that he had quasi-equal status, but the atmosphere with his new team is something else entirely. Certainly he seems to have settled straight in to the team, with good work in testing.

After six years with the team, aerodynamicist Willem Toet left, eventually resurfacing at BMW, but Anthony Davidson decided to stay on, and was confirmed for his fifth season in a test seat with the team.

Financially, the team is in good shape with Honda ensuring they are well-backed; nonetheless, BAT's exit means more sponsorship is required to maintain the ability to spend, so they are working on long-term deals, including a long-term agreement with Snap-On Tools. Then again, as an illustration of how they are perhaps struggling to spend this year's budget, Honda has signed 19 Entertainment, a company run by Pop Idol's Simon Fuller, to work on the team's image.

In contrast to Toyota, Geoff Willis advocates a late launch, with the team getting as much running using hybrid cars as possible. Accordingly, the team spent much time running a restricted V10 to compare '05 and '06 aero packages, revised gearbox, hydraulics, electronics and rear suspension - all confirmed independently before the final product was put together. On the positive side, it should add spice to the start of the season as the designers will be vocal in their criticisms!

The team is looking to get to the top of the podium this season coming, with championship aspirations in 2007, once their new wind tunnel comes online.

Unlike most of the paddock, from the outset the team expressed little concern over the apparent V10 advantage - apparently comfortable that their new engine would have eroded the difference by the start of the season. In fact, despite admitting they are chasing Cosworth for power, they are starting the season with one of the best engines around.

Summary: Expectations that the new rules will reward smooth, consistent driving perhaps gives Button a chance to move forward; the car has been very quick in testing despite the emphasis on reliability, so a competitive season is in prospect. From the outset, they have the potential to race at the front, so there should be every opportunity of that taking that elusive first win.

Objectives: Win races - no excuses this year.

Having bought their own second-string team (Minardi) in order to have enough seats for their drivers, Red Bull shut down their American driver search: Scott Speed racing in 2006 fulfils their criteria.

The team wasted little time on getting their act together for the new season. They signed Robert Doornbos from Minardi to be their third driver, then confirmed Christian Klien alongside David Coulthard for 2006. They announced Adrian Newey would soon be joining from McLaren, and actually had him start at the beginning of January after McLaren waived the requirements for considerable gardening leave. Team manager David Stubbs left, to be replaced by former Renault Chief Mechanic Jonathan Wheatley.

And they surprised onlookers by launching the RB2 very early in mid-December. Actually, considering they are changing engine supplier, it is a good move: getting the new Ferrari engine installed and plenty of running time turned out to be very important, as it turned out their packaging resulted in cooling problems that severely hampered early running.

With a full solution to the cooling problem not being available until February, the team made the most of their hybrid car for longer runs and struggled to get miles on the RB2. Reliability was initially a problem - not all caused by overheating - but with the revised bodywork, much of the trouble cleared up.

This team continues to expand its talent pool; the chequebook opens whenever the right opportunity arises, but they are not simply spending recklessly; there is a lot of thought going in to getting the team set up properly. An excellent example relates to the team's new wind tunnel: rather than just getting it online and productive, the outfit is waiting until they have finished calibration work and have some time further in to the year to ensure they have it completely understood before trusting it.

Considering the number of leading teams in the last decade who have blamed 'wind tunnel calibration' for failing to deliver the performance jumps predicted before the car hit the track, this is a sensible approach.

For the year ahead, running with Ferrari power on Michelin tyres, the team has set themselves the target of being able to beat their supplier on the track. Whenever Michelin has the upper hand, this should even be a reasonable goal too: the RB2 has shown some good legs in testing and is particularly quick on shorter runs, though apparently it is hard to drive on the limit.

Summary: Provided their reliability issues have been resolved, the team should run at the front of the midfield and keep the leading teams honest. They may not be in a position to maintain the pace of development through the season, but a strong opening to the year would put them in good stead for the championship.

Objectives: Beat Ferrari periodically; score regular points.

Getting to grips with running their own team, BMW spent the early part of the off-season quietly working out how the pieces would be coming together with Sauber. They confirmed Petronas as title sponsor for the next four years, and that the car would be launched on January.

Besides that, the media spent column inches speculating over whether or not BMW would actually retain Villeneuve before the inevitable happened, when the team finally recognised his contract in December.

Bolstering the finances of the ex-privateer team and surprisingly low budget available from BMW was an important part of getting the team in shape for the year ahead. Signing a sponsorship deal with telecommunications company O2 Germany and a long-term strategic partnership involving their road cars with Intel, significant increases to the budget mean they can pursue a decent development and test program over the coming year.

Building up the team was also an issue. On track, they signed Robert Kubica as third driver - incidentally dispelling rumours that Dan Wheldon and Alexander Wurz were lined up for the seat - and committing to building up a test team. The design team is bolstered by Willem Toet's pending arrival from Honda as Chief Aerodynamicist.

For now at least, BMW are intending to work with factories in Switzerland and Germany; this is something they were familiar with from their Williams days, so there is no hurry to change anything there; indeed, integration is taking place well despite the distances involved.

In testing, BMW initially looked like they would be struggling with reliability, but since the F1.06 was launched in Valencia, the car has been running surprisingly smoothly. The drivers have pronounced it driveable - Villeneuve in particular likes its potential - and the team has shown some promise in testing, without compromising reliability.

Summary: With the team aiming to be able to win races in three years, there are no false expectations for the year ahead: aiming to be steady midfield performers, picking up points when they are able, BMW-Sauber should have a solid building year as they work on being ready to win in 2008.

Objectives: Score regular points - perhaps a podium finish this year.

Starting up where Eddie Jordan left off, Alex Shnaider complained about the rules, the impact of the changes and the ineffectual cost-cutting impact. Nevertheless, the team set about stepping up their game, announcing their intention to upgrade the Brackley wind tunnel to accept 50% models, rather than the current 40%, and increase operating hours by 33%.

Midland signed Nicky Pastorelli in the third driver role, confirming his continuation from the Jordan team. Christijan Albers was confirmed for a race seat, moving from Minardi, and Tiago Monteiro is to race on for another year.

Bringing Albers on board helped the team to sign deals with his personal sponsors, JVC Benelux and Dremel. They also announced Garcia Jeanswear, Sign Zim Integrated Shipping Services and a deal with leading Italian tailor, Cesare Attolini.

In the event, Nicky Pastorelli's plans for the season collapsed along with his funding, leading to the team trying out several promising youngsters before signing Adrian Sutil and Giorgio Mondini as test and reserve drivers to share Friday duties through the season. Markus Winkelhock was also signed on as a test driver.

When the M16 was launched in February, the team made much of it being the first entirely Russian car, owned and registered under a Russian racing license, and with an entirely progressive design. Their stated intent is to challenge Red Bull and BMW this year. In fact, that is not surprising as the predecessor was basically a three-year old Jordan design that had an annual facelift.

The new M16 incorporated considerable design input from Dallara, who had originally been commissioned to develop the chassis; however, in their own words, they had a learning curve to get on top of the more refined technical requirements of Formula One, so the Jordan team brought the project back in-house.

Running the Toyota engine gives the team a credible power unit, so deficiencies in the rest of the package will be apparent in the gap to Toyota's performance; the car is not expected to see much development through the season, certainly not in comparison to most of their rivals, so they are really stuck with Jordan's old game of avoiding finishing last.

Since Minardi became Toro Rosso and gained Red Bull funding, that is another team that will probably prove tougher competition as the season wears on (hence plenty of complaints about the 'overpowered' status of that team's restricted V10 engine, and Managing Director Colin Kolles even questioning its legality), so this could be a long season for Midland.

Summary: Expected to be a backmarker from the outset, the team has a target that could loosely be described as 'gain credibility' as the season wears on. Doing so would help them retain Toyota power, which, along with more committed investment, should let them work genuinely on a more competitive challenger for 2007.

Objectives: Continuous improvement through the season; score points.

With Paul Stoddart declaring he will have no involvement in the future of Minardi, Red Bull finalised taking on the team at the end of October. Honouring the original team's testing promises, Katherine Legge had a test drive, and Paul Stoddart took a turn at the wheel to be the final person to drive an active Minardi chassis. Giancarlo Minardi confirmed his departure from the team, after failing to agree a role, ending his 20 year involvement with the sport.

The team secured a deal with Michelin for tyres, hired Toyota's logistics manager Giancarlo Fanduzzi as Team Manager, and lined up Vitantonio Liuzzi and Scott Speed in the race seats, with Neel Jani taking the third driver role. The drivers are optimistic, believing they should even be able to score points during the season ahead.

The team set about designing their own car, due to debut ahead of the season opening, as they start testing with RB1 chassis borrowed from Red Bull. From their own testing, they consider the restricted V10 Cosworth engine to be perhaps 5% down on power compared with the V8, but promising excellent reliability.

Lending credibility to the team as a business venture - as opposed to a Red Bull marketing exercise - Gerhard Berger bought a 50% stake in the outfit. Although only involved in an advisory capacity, his long involvement with the sport, both behind the wheel and on the pitwall, will let him bring a lot of experience.

Summary: As their real car is only due to be launched on the eve of the Bahrain GP, unless it is miraculously conceived, the team is due a troubled start to the year. Although they should expect to beat Super Aguri, this is definitely going to be a time for building and looking forward...

Objectives: Get the car built, then reliable, then fast!

Even as Takuma Sato left BAR, he announced his expectation to be in Formula One in 2006, confirming the likelihood of driving for the yet unannounced Super Aguri team, bringing the team's existence to the public eye. The launch process would prove a long, tortured one, too.

The team soon confirmed their intent to race, and without time to build a whole new car for the start of the season, they were rumoured to want to use an ex-BAR chassis until the legality of doing that was questioned.

Still, they pressed on, with backing from Honda. Daniel Audetto was hired as team leader and former Arrows and McLaren engineer Mark Preston was brought in as Chief Technical Officer. Despite failing to secure their entry by the 11th November deadline - they did not post the new team bond of 48 million dollars in time - efforts continued.

Rumours that Yuji Ide had secured the second seat started long before the team were officially confirmed. Honda announced their support - presumed to be in the form of subsidised engines - in December.

Missing that deadline proved very irksome, as joining the grid then meant obtaining the consent of every other team. Williams and Renault demanded the team's plans and details of their financial backing, whilst Midland withheld their approval until they had obtained assurances over the funding due from the television rights associated with the championship results.

Once confirmed, the team signed a deal with Bridgestone, confirmed Sato and Ide and announced that their definitive 2006 car would not be ready before the San Marino GP.

In the interim, from their base at the old Arrows factory in Leafield, the team upgraded an A23 chassis to fit the current safety rules. They started testing in February, whilst still working on a legal aerodynamic package, due for introduction before Bahrain.

Summary: Put together in haste, 2006 is clearly about getting the team to the grid, with no hope of competitive racing in the short-term.

Objectives: Get the car built, then reliable, then fast!

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