What now for Honda?

Otmar Szafnauer
By Phil Giles
August 22 2002

Honda announced at the Hungarian Grand Prix that its partnership with Jordan is to finish at the end of the 2002 season. Otmar Szafnauer, Vice President, Honda Racing Development has taken time out to answer some questions about Jordan, Honda's F1 future, IRL and American F1 fans.

Honda announced at the Hungarian Grand Prix that its partnership with Jordan is to finish at the end of the 2002 season. Could you elaborate a little more on this?

"We're glad that everyone's happy with the outcome and that we were able to release Jordan from the contract one year early so Eddie Jordan could sign a long-term engine deal for next year." Said Szafnauer. "We've strengthened the internal Formula One structure within Honda R&D and restructured our joint chassis development project with British American Racing. Honda will continue its challenge for the FIA Formula One World Championship with B.A.R and we're looking forward to some exciting racing next year."

What stage of development is the new engine for 2003 at and what is the level of progress being made?

"The timing for next year's engine is pretty tight, as I'm sure it is with the other manufacturers. It's an entirely new engine and the design phase is almost complete, with the new powerplant scheduled to run on the dyno at the end of September. Following that there will be more upgrades and further dyno runs towards the end of this year, with the engine running in a car for the first time in early January. Although the timing is tight, the programme is on schedule and we'll continue to push ahead."

As the US Grand Prix approaches and given your experience in America, what are the immediate differences between Formula One and CART/IRL?

The biggest difference is that CART and IRL may have up to two or three chassis manufacturers and perhaps three or four engine manufacturers that teams can pick and choose from to acquire a chassis-engine package. In F1, all teams design their own chassis and most teams have their own engine supplier - there are some duplications, with Jaguar and Arrows with Cosworth for example and of course Jordan and B.A.R with us. All the development work is in-house which makes it more of a reflection of the overall design team, programme and technical ability, as opposed to that of a manufacturer you bought the car and engine from.

What do you think American spectators find appealing about Formula One?

The American F1 fan tends to be sophisticated, knowledgeable and recognises the difference in the technology that's applied to the cars and engines in Formula One. The difficulty with the F1 fan base in the US is that race times can be very early in the morning, especially for those out on the west coast - if you live in California for example the races start at four or five in the morning - so it makes it difficult for F1 to get a big TV audience and following.