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RACER Magazine http://www.racer.com/speedtv
RACER Magazine http://www.racer.com/speedtv
02/27/2007 - 07:00 PM
London, UK
Honda's brave new "world" takes F1 marketing in a whole new direction. (LAT photo) » More Photos
This week's unveiling of Honda's "World Car" at London's famed Natural History Museum is one of the most fascinating Formula 1 developments of recent times. Who would have imagined that a major manufacturer would field a car almost totally devoid of logos?
All the car carries is the Honda badge on the nose, which is mandated by the FIA, a trio of Bridgestone logos in the same area (it comes with the tire deal), and the message www.myearthdream.com on the rear wing – traditionally the most visible and hence valuable place (in rate card terms) on any F1 car.
As you will have seen by now, the rest of the car is covered in an astonishing graphic that depicts our planet, with a dark area on the engine cover occupied by space. It's actually done with decals rather than paint. We see that a lot in other forms of racing, but it's been rare in F1, although BAR-Honda experimented when they ran in one-off 555 livery in China. No one noticed, but recently the 2007 car has been testing with a transparent plastic layer covering the whole car, with the aim of judging how much damage is done by stones, hot exhausts, and the like.
Quite how it will look on TV or when running at speed remains to be seen, but this is not a car that we will easily confuse with any other. So how did this highly unusual arrangement come about?
When Honda took over full control of the team formerly known as British American Racing, the deal included provision for one more year of Lucky Strike sponsorship in 2006. Respecting the various layers of legislation that applied to F1, BAT joined Imperial (West) and Japan Tobacco (Mild Seven) in waving goodbye to F1, something that sadly Philip Morris has elected not to do.
Anyway, three works teams were left searching for major title sponsorship. At a very early stage McLaren managed to steal Vodafone from Ferrari, while Renault much later landed Dutch banking group ING. So what of Honda?
Honda's brave new "world" takes F1 marketing in a whole new direction. (LAT photo) » More Photos
For years BAR had failed to attract
It's interesting to note that Honda F1 boss Nick Fry told me that the plan goes back to Imola last year. What he hasn't said is whether it was a definitive plan at that stage, or a contingency to be taken up if the team failed to attract a headline sponsor.
However, even in April it must have been apparent that the chances of bringing a big name on board were receding, since budgets of the required size are usually committed a year early. Having said that, ING did make a relatively late call, but despite pitching for it Honda knew fairly early on that the Dutch firm wanted one of the two or three top teams.
Anyway, Honda faced the prospect of running a car that carried huge Honda logos and not much else. That would have been a little embarrassing. It would also have been a clear signal to Honda shareholders that their F1 program wasn't being subsidized by substantial outside backing.
On the other hand, a manufacturer running its car minus heavy branding from third parties could have looked like a trendsetter. When I quizzed Fry on the subject in October, he made the valid point that manufacturers are committing huge budgets to F1, and yet for a contribution of, let's say, $20-40m a title sponsor would have the lion's share of the space on their car. So why not absorb that cost and use all the space for yourself?
It was a good point. It's also true to say that, unlike with Renault, for example, there was no need to convince the board that going racing wasn't costing them too much by showing a car covered with logos. At Honda, the passion for racing comes from the top down.
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