At the start of the season though, Honda were really struggling in testing and looked the slowest team on the grid.
Right before the season started, with Brawn’s impact, there was a 1 second gain which put them in the midfield and able to challenge for points.
If Honda had continued aggressive development throughout the season, I think they would be doing pretty well by now.
I don’t think Honda will challenge for big results straight away; that’s possibly too big a jump at the moment but I expect them to return to the right end of the grid. From there, with Brawn in charge, the sky is the limit.
As for others I haven’t mentioned yet?
Williams I think will sadly slide down the grid even further. They have the knowledge and people on board, but lack the facilities and the budget they need, which is going to be so vital for adapting to these new regulations.
At least they may get some help with KERs from their engine suppliers Toyota and sponsor Lenovo, who recently helped set up a new supercomputer at the team’s factory.
Toyota have made admirable progress during the course of this season so far.
Next season I expect their position on the grid to remain pretty stable. Their main sponsors Panasonic should be able to give then a good helping hand with the development of KERs.
So, like Honda, I think they will have a decent headstart in that department.
How well they will adapt to the rest of the new regs is questionable.
At least with people like Frank Dernie on board there is experience there to help adapt to the rules.
One problem in my mind is that they are perhaps still spending too much time on the 2008 car to the detriment of 2009 development. I think their position will remain similar, but if they are going to move, it will more likely be down than up in my opinion.
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