By Phil Huff
February 27 2007

In a change of attitude from previous years, Honda Racing F1's team boss Nick Fry has told RealHondaF1.com readers directly "please don't expect us to win in Melbourne as we probably won't." The RA107 hasn't set the timesheets alight in testing, sometimes finishing well over a second off the fastest times of a day. Looking at Bahrain, and ignoring Heidfeld's low-fuel lap time, the car seems about 0.8 seconds off the pace of the McLaren. I asked Nick if that's a fair reflection of the pace.

"There's certainly more to come," he replied, speaking to RealHondaF1.com before yesterday's launch. "I think the thing to understand to start with is the development philosophy this year has been 180 degrees from last year.

"Last year, as you'll have noticed, we introduced two cars at the beginning of January and we did a huge amount of mileage but the unfortunate truth is between the beginning of January and the first race we really didn't develop the car much, and others overtook us."

A very candid admission, certainly, but what's happening in 2007?

"This car [pointing to the RA107] is actually technologically very different. We've taken a bigger step in the longer runs that will give us more potential for improvements, but in the shorter runs it's a bit more difficult to set up. Where we are is we're aiming to start get quicker, start to put the new aero bits on the car in Bahrain. In terms of last week, one lap times were a big problem, but long run times you're probably right, we're probably half a second at least from where we should be.

"Realistically, where I believe we are is that we'll be in a position to score points in Melbourne, but we're trying to win the war and not individual battles. We want to be winning races certainly, and I think we'll be winning races in the second half of the season, but what I'll say to your readers is "please don't expect us to win in Melbourne as we probably won't."

A switch to Bridgestone tyres is also complicating development, but the team are finally cracking that. The suspension layout gives a far greater degree of setup options, and the new aerodynamic package, that generates around 3% more downforce than last year, is more flexible.

"We tried before Christmas six different rear suspension configurations and decided on one with the geometry that's in front of you now," explains Fry. "The front also has been through a number of iterations. One thing which has been very positive about this car is that in terms of not only setting up the suspension but also setting up the aerodynamics, it's got a lot of flexibility, so we can move the aerodynamic pressures around the car and it's proven very good in that respect, but on the other hand giving yourself a lot of options does mean you've got more potential, but it does also mean you've got more potential to get it wrong.

"You've got more things to experiment with and we really didn't find the balance in the car until the final Friday in Europe before we came to Bahrain. In that respect we started to say that's the balance direction we wanted to go in, hence the developments this week in Bahrain and also next week."

Jenson Button had a well publicised injury early in the winter season, cracking a couple of ribs in a karting accident. Did that, combined with Anthony Davidson's move to Super Aguri, hamper development?

"Jenson's injury really made no difference," confirmed Nick. "I would argue that having a couple of months off probably did him no harm. It's like all of us doing the same thing all the time, even if it's driving a formula one car, then you're probably not as sharp as if you've had a break and come back.

"The second point is that Christian has been super. He really has jumped in the car and surpassed our expectations, and I'm really pleased for Anthony that he's got a chance of racing a car."

One final question then: what year will Honda Racing F1 win the championship?

"Within the next three!"