I'd be surprised if they signed Sato, at least for a race seat. He had his chance with Honda and didn't produce. Although I didn't watch the battle closely, the consensus opinion appears to be that Ant outperformed him at Super Best Friends.
I'd be surprised if they signed Sato, at least for a race seat. He had his chance with Honda and didn't produce. Although I didn't watch the battle closely, the consensus opinion appears to be that Ant outperformed him at Super Best Friends.
Nope, Sato scored 3 points to Ant's zero and pretty consistently beat him on track. Ant is younger and has a longer future in the sport but Sato is faster as of right now. I have to think that Honda may want to retain Sato as a way of doing damage control to their image in Japan. I don't necessarily think that is the right decision though.
I imagine Honda will want to hang on to Jensen, though its a bit of a toss up this early in the season whether Jensen will stay or go. I think he'll move on since he's not had a car that is up to his talent and skill.
Rubins will probably retire, I too don't think that Sato will take his place since Honda let him go once already. If Davidson remains in F-1 it will be back to testing. It depends on what they want, if they're looking for the most talented driver they can get for the money, then they might make Alonso an offer, or maybe Kovalienen. Who else is top tier talent, is available next year and would consider taking a risk with Honda? If STR is sold, where will Vettel and Bourdais go?
Most likely think they'll try to bring a young driver up from GP2 or a test driver and try to develop him under the wing of Jensen.
If they are to have any improvement in performance next year I think it is almost a given that they'll need to sign one of their current drivers for at least one more year. If Jensen walks first then I'd say Rubins might stay, if Rubins goes first, then they'll do as best they can to keep Jensen.
I'd be surprised if they signed Sato, at least for a race seat. He had his chance with Honda and didn't produce. Although I didn't watch the battle closely, the consensus opinion appears to be that Ant outperformed him at Super Best Friends.
Nope, Sato scored 3 points to Ant's zero and pretty consistently beat him on track. Ant is younger and has a longer future in the sport but Sato is faster as of right now. I have to think that Honda may want to retain Sato as a way of doing damage control to their image in Japan. I don't necessarily think that is the right decision though.
Davidson was often faster than Sato in qualifying but Sato was better in the races.
In 2004 at BAR/Honda Sato had a very good season, grabbed a podium at Indy that year. His 2005 season was a disaster, he got badly thrown off his game by the early season ban of the team.
At Super Aguri however I think Sato's been doing a fantastic job, in 2006 in an updated 4 year old car (2002 Arrows) he came close to getting into the top 10 a couple of times, last year Sato drove brilliantly with the highlight been Montreal.
I definately think Sato deserve's another shot with a top team.
Davidson was often faster than Sato in qualifying but Sato was better in the races.
In 2004 at BAR/Honda Sato had a very good season, grabbed a podium at Indy that year. His 2005 season was a disaster, he got badly thrown off his game by the early season ban of the team.
I think Ant in '07 did a lot better in his car then people give him credit for. He had a pretty strong mid season and at the end floundered a bit but if it wasn't for his retirements he would of probably did as well or even better then Sato.
At the end the man with more points always wins in F1 and thats what people well remember Sato's '07 season for that.
As for Honda I heard they were saving money for someone big. I heard Nico might be in play and I wouldn't be surprised if Alonso's name would be in play mostly if Renault doesn't live up to his expectations. If Massa were to get "fired" I bet Honda would make a run for him also. Then again there's always GP2...Romain seems to be the strongest driver in the field IMO.
if STR folds, i see bourdais going to honda and vettel going to red bull as a test driver to take coulthards seat as soon as he retires. sato a test driver for honda is plausible but a race seat is out of the question.
I hypothesize that GP2's Bruno Senna will be given a test drive. All the media speculation regarding Danica Patrick is unfounded as she remains under a lucrative sponsor-friendly ICS contract for 2009. Patrick will get a test drive despite this but she will not be F1 bound next year. Tony Kanaan in the final year of his conract is actually the best ICS candidate to make the switch to F1, and is familiar with Honda. Kanaan's CART/ICS heritage makes him versatile if nothing else. GP2's Giorgio Pantano is a journeyman of a driver but has demonstrated ability and would not break the bank for Honda. Alonso in a contract year is way out of their price range, and he would likely prefer to remain at Renault before leaving for Honda (if Ferrari does not materialize for 2009).
In closing, I do expect changes for Honda for 2009. They are clearly not happy with their current state of affairs, and rumors persist that there are hard feelings over what happened in Australia (falling out of a points paying finish to start the season secondary to pit crew error and later driver error). Honda is committed to their F1 program, and I expect them to improve next year when the sporting regulations start favoring Toyota, Renault and themselves relative to the three top teams.
I'm beginning to think Nick Fry is taking his PR speech lessons from Ronspeak these days and have started to figure out a
means of interpreting what he really means.
Call me cynical but if you read Mr. Fry's latest comments regarding extending Jenson's contract vs Rubens' , it becomes quite clear
that he favors re-signing the former and not the latter.
I think Rubens has an ally in Ross Brawn and that will be the deciding factor in the decision making as to whether they'll extend
Rubens' tenure for 1 more season.
There's a lot of factors that will come in to play - one being : the pool of available drivers and what they can offer in terms
of experience feedback and ideas/suggestions for car development. When Aguri had some backers from India approaching them wanting
Karthikeyan as part of the package, Brawn (since Honda had a significant say in Aguri's future and also were likely getting tyre data from Aguri with the RA107 chassis ) vetoed the deal, saying that he wanted a driver who could help them.
This is why I don't place a lot of credence wrt young drivers with zero experience driving the current aero , low torque F1 cars being eligible
replacements for Rubens. Rubens' experience (like Webber, DC, and Fisi) does factor into the decision of driver selection when it comes to car development. Rubens has won races in a good car. Davidson, although a good tester, has not won a race in F1 experientially. Does he or Sato offer more
knowledge than Rubens ? Doubtful.
If you had a hot shoe who has won coming into play , maybe...but also realize that Brawn also has been quoted as saying that he prefers a clear cut #1 and a supportive #2 as a formula for success. So if the hot shoe candidate does arrive, he can't be better than Button, if they plan to keep Button.
That's my speculative 2 cents on the topic anyway, for what it's worth.
^ Hondanisti -- just for fun speculation... do you think Ross looks at the situation differently if Alonso becomes a realistic option? He's would then have his developer and hot shoe all in one driver, so out with Rubens (unless he's willing to be a test driver) and Button is #2 whether he likes it or not?
