3:14 PM
Addendum:
**Talking about BAR-Honda’s misfortunes from the point of view of a Toyota fan – and I will try to be as objective as possible. I understand it doesn’t matter how many tanks an F1 car has, as long as fuel is not counted with the minimum weight. They were rather cheeky, which didn’t help, I think. I actually admire BAR for their culture of innovation, but I also see this case as more than just innovation. I believe they were more adventurous than usual but I do not know for sure if they cheated by running underweight. I must point out Mr. Willi’s assertion that they have a culture of integrity – I am not in the capacity to call them downright cheats but their previous acts i.e. the quasi third element of the rear wing, their clear exploitation of the engine rules loophole just a weeks back – has to put in doubt this culture of integrity. Besides, who last year went on setting fast laps en route to breaking lap records with an underweight car? They claim it was about evaluating the car’s potential, but it sounds pointless and now, fishy, since one isn’t supposed to race an underweight car anyway, and they were not cash-strapped so as to be that desperate to please or attract sponsors.
Of course, from the point of view of yours truly, all this is narrowed down to a Toyota versus Honda case. This evens up a bit Toyota and Honda’s 'cheat score cards' – I know this is very much debatable. Toyota is clearly having a banner year in F1 while Honda is having a nightmare and I believe Toyota will be even happier if they beat Honda in the end fair and square. In this light and also for the sake of Formula 1, I hope BAR-Honda comes back “cleaner” and even stronger to battle not only Toyota but also the usual top teams Ferrari, McLaren, Renault, and Williams. Suzuka is still a long way down the race calendar, but we will be eagerly waiting and preparing for it, as BAR-Honda will too, for sure.
