Slipstream: The Nightmare Of Reality

Hello and welcome back to another edition of "The Slipstream."

The Honda F1 dream is gone, and the F1 world now exists in a new reality.   It seems that only the bad news of Formula One manages to seep into the "mainstream" media venues of CNN, and Headline News, because today as I was enjoying a morning can of "Sobe No Fear" energy drink, it was announced that Honda was leaving Formula One for the third time, and second time as a full-blown factory team.

With the exception of Hamilton's WDC victory last month, the last time F1 made the news here in the states was after Kubica's nightmare shunt in Montreal and the farce that was the 2005 USGP. No news like bad news, huh?

Teams have come and gone before, and Honda has pulled itself out of the sport twice already: once as a full-works team in the 60s, and once after it ended its relationship with McLaren in the early 90s. When Jaguar folded there was no panic, when Prost and Arrows shut its doors there was no fear, but today it is different.

Today, the F1 dream turned into a nightmare. Despite finishing second in 2004 to Ferrari, which was led by the brilliant David Richards, the Honda F1 outfit never found the direction needed to compete seriously with the big powers of the sport. 

It was a marvel to hear the Hondas during the 2004 Canadian Grand Prix, as you could almost feel the power of those machines with each gear shift.  

The Honda name may be best known for being emblazoned upon the flanks of the McLaren Hondas of Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost during their legendary duels.

However, even as the Honda name fades from the F1 grid once more, it does not fade out of the world of motor sport.  They have a monopoly in the IndyCar Series and compete in the Super GT Championship in their native Japan, along with their motorcycle programs. 

Perhaps this is a chance for the long talked about "Prodrive F1 team" to finally appear, possibly being led by David Richards, the man who brought Honda F1 back to the front of the grid.  Their decline these past few years has been a sad sight, considering the potential the team had and the coverage it got from the press.

With hindsight being 20/20, maybe we should have seen this on the wall after Suzuki Aguri's effort folded barely a third into this year's season.

Will another team fold before the grid forms up in March?  Or will Prodrive or another group emerge to save this team and it's 700-plus employees from being just another footnote in the F1 record books?  

See you next week.