By Phil Huff
January 25 2006

A product of evolution rather than revolution, the new Honda RA106 is the first car to fully integrate the resources at Brackley and Honda Racing Development and R&D.

"The new RA106 is the product of four years of steady evolution," explains Geoffrey Willis, Honda Racing F1's Technical Director. "During this time, the team has developed a high level of technical capability which now sees it designing, manufacturing and operating at the highest level on the grid. The emphasis now is on integration and combining our design concepts and expertise to achieve a car capable of challenging for race wins."

An accepted weak area of last years BAR Honda was the aerodynamic efficiency, with the team struggling to generate reliable levels of downforce without inducing significant levels of drag. Willis is confident, however, that the issues have now been resolved.

"One of our key areas of focus has been aerodynamics," explains Willis, "the design considerations for which were two-fold – the aero problem that we faced in 2005 and achieving a significant improvement in aerodynamic efficiency to meet the requirements of the new, smaller V8 engine and its implications on chassis design. We are pleased with the progress we have made in the wind tunnel over the winter and our data shows that we have made a good step forward.

"Mechanically, in keeping with the evolutionary theme we have refined our various concepts including our third generation carbon composite gearbox."

The gearbox is one of the best in F1, built by Honda Racing F1's carbon shop, perceived to be the best in F1. It allows incredibly fast changes, with minimal time without power, and a much reduced driveline 'shunt'. With the reduced drivability of the mandatory V8 engines, the gearbox will open up another small advantage for the team.

"Honda has produced a new engine to meet the challenge of Formula One's switch from V10 to V8 power. The new RA806E is the result of a very intensive year's work with many concepts designed and tested since the prototype first ran in May 2005. Since the latest specification started running in November 2005, the team has been encouraged by its reliability and performance."