BAR Honda's one-car frustration

By Phil Huff (14/06/2004)
June 14 2004

Why is it that Lucky Strike BAR Honda only seem to get one car to the finish? Takuma Sato has now suffered from five engine failures in eight races, and that's got to be more than just coincidence.

Speaking to Autosport, BAR's technical chief Geoffrey Willis said "Our investigation so far is not giving us any specific clues as to why there should be a problem on one car and not the other."



Indicating that Takuma may be using the car in a different way to the naturally smooth Jenson Button, Willis continued "We are looking at driving styles and the way we are operating each car - the set-up, the traction control settings and that sort of thing.

"We are trying to take a logical approach; it is an engineering problem not a data problem."

Speaking immediately after the Canadian Grand Prix, Jenson Button added to the theory that it could be Takuma inadvertently causing the problem.

"There has been a difference in driving style that could have contributed to the failures but he's been trying to change that," explained the Englishman.

"He said he'd be more aggressive in this race, though."

David Richards has also pointed the finger at Takuma, saying "There's something in there that we don't understand in the way Taku is driving the car. Not that there's anything against him or nothing that's his fault, but it's the manner in which he's using the car."

As to why they've not resolved the problem yet, Richards explains "You're looking for a needle in a haystack. We've got some of the best engineers in the world from Honda, and they can't find it."

Honda has stated that it feels Sato's driving style is not to blame for the engine failures.