HONDA The Power of Dreams

Honda’s first F1 victory came in the final round 04 1965 in Mexico, which was also the end of the 1.5L era, revolutionizing the F1 World Championship in the 1966 season.

Under the new engine regulations, the maximum displacement was doubled from 1500 to 3000 cc, which meant that the engines and even the cars had to be completely redesigned. In hindsight, it was indeed a season of confusion. Teams could not perform at peak, as engine suppliers could not produce engines on time, and performance was unstable.

Og the engines supplied to the teams that year, the only engines available were the BRM H-16, which had high output but was heavy and prone to failure, the Repco V8, which was reliable but somewhat less powerful, and the Climax V8, which was lightweight but was not a full-size 3L engine. Each engine had their advantages and disadvantages, forcing teams to make difficult choices, or rather, compromises.

This situation should have advantageous to Ferrari and Honda, who had made their cars completely in-house, but Ferrari was slow to decide on engine specifications, and Honda had focused on winning a race in the 1965 season (which it did), delaying development in preparation for the 3L era.

Honda was only able to prepare the new 3 liter RA273 for Round 7, Italy, more than halfway into the 1966 season. As the season ended with Round 9, Mexico, the RA273 raced only three times. The drivers were unchanged from the 1.5L era: Richie Ginther and Ronnie Bucknum.

As in the 1.5L era, Honda opted for a V12 layout, a typically Honda, high-output decision. Named the RA273E, the engine was mounted on a side tube with a wide cross-section and a unique 90-degree bank angle that fit neatly into the main monocoque, enabling development to proceed concurrently with the chassis. The mounting was changed from an eccentric transverse layout to a more conventional longitudinal mounting. The new design was unique, with an extremely short stroke of 52.2 mm, set for high-revving and high-output. The bank angle was 90 degrees to lower the center of gravity, and although it was mounted longitudinally, the center takeoff system was the same as the transversely mounted RA272’s.

The RA273E’s power and reliability was far superior to other teams’ engines. The problem, however, was vehicle weight. The engine itself was heavy (200 kg), but the chassis, which was designed to have a high safety factor while adopting an aluminum monocoque structure, increased the weight to 650 kg, 150 kg more than the minimum weight requirement.

It was clear that the car would not be competitive, but the 1996 season was in a state of chaos, and there was still the chance to win as long as the car could finish the races.

It was precisely due to the weight problem that Ginther’s RA273 was only able to finish 4th (Bucknum 8th) in the final round in Mexico, and the cars seriously needed to lose weight. Honda continued to refine and reduce the weight of the RA273 with the intention of continuing to use it in the following 1967 season. In its second race, the U.S. GP, Honda decided to add pickup points to the rear suspension radius rods and widen the tread. In Round 5, Monaco, the engine block was changed from aluminum to cast magnesium. The nose design was also tailored according to the race, including Monaco and the Netherlands.

Meanwhile, Honda began efforts to strengthen the team, parting ways with Ginther and Bucknum, who had been with the team since Honda’s first entry into F1, and bringing in a former world champion, John Surtees. In his first race with Honda, the season-opening South African GP in 1967, Surtees drove his RA273 to 3rd, followed by a 6th place in the British GP and 4th in the German GP. With his network of contacts in the U.K. and the advice from the team, Honda formed a partnership with Lola Cars of the U.K. and succeeded in producing the new RA300 within six weeks, based on the Indy T90 chassis and powered by the RA273E engine which had reached the peak of maturity. The RA300 won on its first outing at the Italian GP, giving Honda its second F1 victory. The RA273 was sandwiched between two cars, the RA272 and the RA300, both of which were F1 winners. Although the RA273 did not win, it was valuable as it served as the bridge to the RA300.