By Phil Huff
February 15 2006

Formula One fans are a fickle bunch. A few resolutely stick to their team of choice, while others flick from one to another, possibly hoping to hit upon a team as they achieve success. As an old Tyrrell fan, I've got little choice but to be fickle. From championship winners to tail enders, then sold to British American Racing, and then sold again to Honda. Thirty five years after their one championship title, it looks like there's a chance to repeat that. That's dedication.

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Of course, there are very few people who are certain of victory, myself included, most choosing to err on the side of caution.

Apart from reader Mark Djohan. He's as positive as they come, saying "This year I believe they could win many races, and the drivers and constructors championships."

Well, they could, but it's hard to have doubts when the likes of Khurram Akhtar tell us that "Honda will definitely win races this year." That's good, upbeat stuff there, Khurram.

"I guess to have confidence we have to wait for Bahrain."

And it was all going so well. Still, it's good to temper your enthusiasm with self-doubt.

Gary Moss writes that he "can't help but be cynical" (which must blight his personal, professional and social life, as well as making movies and other works of fiction very difficult to enjoy).

"I see any success this year as being directly creditable to Jacques Villeneuve and the work of Pollock and Willis," he added as if to prove the point that he really can't help but be cynical.

The obviously new BMW-Sauber fan (we assume) is clearly still holding some kind of grudge against Honda, and the previous BAR / Prodrive incarnation. Understandable to a degree, but isn't it time to let this go?

Lets set the story straight: it was all done and finished in 2003. End of story. Game over.

To that small number of Williams > BAR > Renault > Sauber > BMW fans out there who insist on bringing this up over and over again, support your new team. You've got a young yet experienced team, with big ambitions and serious funding. The medium term future for you guys is looking fantastic. Get involved with the programme and look forward to some good years.

Those who've stuck with Tyrrell / BAR / Honda are looking forward. Despite being close to 40 years old, we're a young, fresh, exciting team. We've got a great driver line up and some great engines. Ferrari are on their back foot (welcome to those new fans abandoning ex-winners Ferrari), Toyota are surprisingly stagnant in winter testing (hello to our new Japanese fans) and McLaren just don't have reliability (regards to all those in Woking).

Talking of testing, Honda have continued to do just such a thing at seemingly unabated pace, pounding the tarmac lap after lap after lap. Make no mistake, it's tough work. It's repetitive, it's physically exhausting, and it's mentally demanding. And it's all taking place in mid February.

Apparently the middle of February sees more employees take a sickie from work and bears witness to more glum faces than the front row at a Radiohead concert. Despite that, Honda have managed to wheel out Barrichello, Button, Davidson and young driver James Rossiter. How, you may well ask, have they managed to do that when, at least according to research, they should all be at home in front of a PlayStation?

Easy. They went testing in Bahrain, where temperatures are in the mid 20's, and the sun is shining brightly. Given that Brackley was shrouded in cloud this morning, and barely got above 6°C, it's perhaps not a surprise that the computer games have had to wait.

You don't have to wait for the games, though. In what could be the worst link I've ever managed (Seriously, from testing, to some ropey research, and on to computer games?), we've been spending the last couple of weeks playing around with a special Honda version of Codemaster's TOCA Race Driver 3, and it's great fun.

We're giving away five copies of the game, and it's worth it if only to play around with an over-powered Honda S2000 at Shanghai, and see if you can make the tyres last more than a couple of laps!

The full version of the game hits the UK next Friday, but we're off to the launch event at Sony HQ this Friday. We'll hopefully be bringing some toys back to play with, so don't expect too much news on the site over the weekend!

If the game's good, it's our new favourite. If not, it's back to Gran Turismo 4.

I've got little choice but to be fickle.

Phil Huff
RealHondaF1.com