Honda signs a 16 year old karter

I wondered how long this would take.

http://www.formula1.com/news/headlines/2008/4/7631.html

F1 makes me laugh sometimes because they have no quarms about copying what other teams are up to - usually around the technical developments of competitors cars but also around anything else that they think might give them a tiny advantage.

Back in 97 Tyrrell developed the X-wing which were these truly awful wings which sat astride the sidepods to give the car a little more downforce. They seemed to work and we saw a spate of copycat developments (including Ferrari) until it was thankfully banned (on terms of safety but actually on terms of looking dreadful!).

Of course, we have the annual battle of the motorhomes each year. Each team has their own motorhome and each year they get bigger and bigger in an attempt to outdo each other. I don't know what the current state is but I believe Red Bull has the current largest home that requires a convoy of transporters to bring it ot each European race. The first European race of the season is in just under a fortnight so we'll see what the latest developments are in that particular race.

Anyway, I digress. Back in the late 90s McLaren signed up a promising young karter called Lewis Hamilton and provided guidance, some cash and opened some doors for him in the sport. Hamilton grew up with support from a leading F1 team and arrived in F1 the most well-prepared rookie in the history of the sport.

Honda have watched with interest and have obviously been looking for a candidate that they can do the same with - looks like they've found one. Now, far be it for me to read into what Honda are doing but I suspect they wouldn't have looked twice at this guy if it wasn't for what Hamilton did last year.

I suspect we'll see a few more teams signing up teenagers before the season is out!

Thoughts on Bahrain

Well, I don't like to boast but I should point out that I did predict Massa dominating the Bahrain GP and I was right. So, stick with this blog and you can impress your friends with your foresight. Anyway, well done me and Massa.

I only want to mention one thing about Bahrain GP and for me that was the hint that Honda might actually be making a small step towards becoming vaguely competitive rather than a laughing stock.

It'd be difficult for them to be much worse than they were last year but pre-season testing seemed to suggest that they might actually be. However, come Melbourne it wasn't as bad as was predicted with them lining up 10th and 12th. Malaysia they lined up 11th and 14th with Button setting the 4th fastest lap.

In Bahrain Button and Barrichello managed to qualify 9th and 12th although the race didn't pan out as well as could have been expected. However, are we starting to see the influence of Ross Brawn?

Many times a tech director will change team and talk about their 3 year or 5 year plan and then never actually end up delivering anything, but Brawn is different. He has a devastating track record and despite some of the questionable things that Ferrari have done, you still have to have respect for what he's done over the years. Just having him in your team and knowing that he's got a plan to win the world championship with you would be enough to get you to work just that little bit harder - because you have confidence in what he's doing. That's something that Honda has been lacking since they got rid of Geoff Willis.

So is it just a brief upsurge in their performance or are we starting to see a comeback for Honda? I wouldn't like to say and it's far too early in the season to be confident about such a thing, but I wouldn't be the least bit surprised if it was the latter - and if so, I'd be extremely impressed at how quickly Brawn had managed to assert himself.

Time will tell