Honda 2008 Review, Part Two: Still Pretty Good!

Here is the next instalment of my review of Honda Racing F1’s 2008 season. 

As you may remember from my first installment, I was surprised to rediscover how well Honda started the season.  I’m pleased to say that for these next three races, Honda continued to progress pretty nicely. 

Jenson Button scored the team’s first points and both drivers qualified and raced comfortably in the mid-field.  I know this doesn’t sound great on the surface, but when you consider Honda’s performance in 2007, it truly is encouraging. 

I’ll probably say this every week, but it also could be an illustration of Honda’s position next year.  No one is expecting much, but as the team started well after such a poor season last year, surely they can do it again? Fingers crossed!

2008 Season review of Honda Racing F1: Part Two, Spain to Monaco.

Spain: April 27

Qualifying:
Jenson Button (JB): 13
Rubens Barrichello (RB): 11

Race:
JB: 6
RB: DNF

Yet another encouraging Saturday for Honda, as both drivers comfortably make it into Q2 and then go on to take high grid positions, just outside the top ten. 

Jenson started better in Q1 but dropped off the pace with handling difficulty on his second run.  He finished the session in a great P16. 

Rubens used his first run to help him set a 14th place finish to Q1 only 0.2 seconds slower than third place time! As the track conditions improved, so too did the Hondas.  Both Rubens and Jenson finished the session feeling good and looking forward to Sunday.

The race was…eventful to say the least! Only 13 cars finished, and Jenson was amongst them; bringing home Honda’s first points of the season.  Jens battled his way through the field from 13th to finish in a fantastic sixth place.

His finish was a result of great strategy, in which he drove a longer middle stint than any other driver, and an epic drive from the Brit. 

Rubens, too, drove well, but he had to retire on lap 25 due to a collision with Italian F1 veteran Fisichella.  Poor old Rubens showed us that an F1 car can’t cope with a lap in which the front wing is loose and caught underneath it!  His chassis was just too mangled to continue.

Jenson picked up his first (and unfortunately last points of the season) with a strong performance, and Rubens' retirement was simply bad luck; he had been racing around P6 before his accident. 

Both drivers and team principle Ross Brawn were very encouraged by the team’s progress and all looked forward to the future. Yet another great race for the ever improving team.

 
Turkey: May 11  

Qualifying:
JB: 13
RB: 12

Race:
JB: 11
RB: 14

Turkey was a mixed bag of emotions for the Honda team.  This was a record-breaking race with Rubens making his 257th F1 start, making him the most experienced driver ever.  However, unfortunately it proved to be the end of the road for sister team Super Aguri.

The loss of Ant Davidson was a real shame and I truly hope that we will see him racing again soon.  It would be a real waste of a great talent if we don’t. 

Both Honda drivers eased into Q2 and very nearly made it into Q3; they simply weren’t fast enough this time.  P12 and P13 were still good results, though!

Unfortunately for Honda, the race was not as good as previous outings.  Most of the excitement happened at the front of the grid, and whilst Jenson encouragingly made up two places by the end, Rubens 257th GP saw him go the other way and lose two.

Not a spectacular race for the team in Turkey then, but not a disaster either, as both RA108’s managed to maintain decent midfield places.

Monaco: May 25

Qualifying:
JB: 12
RB: 15

Race:
JB: 11
RB: 6

The race weekend started so well.  At the end of the afternoon qualifying practice on Friday, Jenson was 8th and Rubens 10th. 

Thanks to some wet weather, Jenson managed to put in times that made him the fastest driver on track (proving that Lewis isn’t Britain’s only ‘wet weather specialist’!). 

Unfortunately for the team, Saturday afternoon proved to be a different kettle of fish.  The good news was that both Jenson and Rubens easily passed through into Q2 (something which they would later struggle with). 

The bad news came in an unfortunate accident by David Coulthard in the dying moments of Q2.  Both drivers were forced to abandon their fastest laps due to the crash and subsequently qualified 12th (Jenson) and 15th (Rubens).

The team feeling seemed to be that the Hondas were more than capable of getting into Q3, they were simply hampered by bad luck.  Thankfully, DC was OK.

The race produced Rubens’s first points of the season with a fantastic sixth place. Jenson’s Sunday was unfortunately not as great, but he did manage to finish a place higher than he started. 

Jenson’s problems began on the first lap when a collision with BMW’s Nick Heidfeld damaged the Honda’s front wing and forced the Brit to pit (and rejoin in 20th).  Ironically, having hindered Honda’s chances of points the day before, DC helped Rubens on race day. 

Thanks to DC’s crash with Bourdais (and the subsequent safety car period) Rubens was able to claw his way up the field to a points-paying position.

By lap 51, Rubens had set the fastest lap of the race twice in a row and overtaken both a Toyota and a Red Bull on track; he was flying!

By this time, Rubens looked very comfortable for an eighth place finish (thank goodness he didn’t have Kimi behind him).  Thanks to the Finn’s strange mistake on lap 61 tragically destroying Sutil’s chances of points, Rubens was able to finish sixth!

Jenson was unfortunate and admitted that he had had a scrappy race.  Still, he managed to get himself back up the grid after mistakes. 

Rubens was simply a man on a mission.  He reckoned that if he hadn’t been stuck behind Trulli for so long, he could have finished even higher.  Bad luck for Jens, but a great weekend for the team and yet more encouraging steps taken!

By the end of these three races, Honda had scored its first points, both drivers had driven well and the team’s heads were held high.  Would the promising start continue to Canada?

Next three coming up next week.