Honda engines supplied only to BAR
Car co-development evolves
From 2003, Honda supplied engines exclusively to BAR. The team name was changed from British American Racing (BAR) to BAR Honda, the cars were now named BAR Honda, and the 2003 car was named the BAR Honda 005.
As the new team name suggests, Honda’s involvement had become more active. More Honda technology was applied to the BAR Honda 005 than ever before. In 2002, Ken Hashimoto, who became team leader of car technology development for Honda’s third F1 era, divided the MSD (Motor Sports Division) at Tochigi R&D into MSD1 (engine division) and MSD2 (body division). Takeo Kiuchi was named the F1 Project Leader (PL). Kiuchi was an engineer with a proven track record, having worked on engine electronic control development and as a driver’s engineer during Honda second F1 era. Once Honda had withdrawn from F1, Kiuchi returned to Honda R&D to work on hybrid engine development. The BAR factory in the U.K. was staffed with additional Honda employees from MSD2, and Honda led the joint development efforts in a wide range of areas, including chassis weight reduction, suspension geometry design, and gearbox casing rigidity strengthening.
Development of the BAR Honda 005 was led by Jeff Willis, who had led the team as technical director since the previous year, and was his first F1 car as technical director. Willis focused on two main areas of improvement for the BAR Honda 005: weight reduction and aerodynamics.
Weight reduction started with the internal bulkheads, which were lightened without compromising strength. The fuel tank was downsized to accommodate the new qualifying format of only one attempt, which was to be introduced this year. The 3L V10 engine was 16kg lighter than the previous year’s, and the weight on the rear axle was reduced with a smaller gearbox and a lower overall center of gravity, which helped to largely eliminate the mechanical grip deficiency that had plagued the car.
The aerodynamic changes can be easily seen in the slimmed-down nose. While the BAR004 had a gently sloping nose, the BAR Honda 005’s nose extends forward in an almost straight line. The side pontoons, which were at about the same height as the cockpit opening, have been slightly lowered. This required a review of the cooling system design as well, and was the result of better cooperation between BAR and Honda in the development of the new car. The BAR Honda 005, which was jointly produced by Honda and Willis-led BAR’s technical team, was a major change from previous BAR machines, and its form also gave the impression of evolution.
In his fourth season, Jenson Button demonstrated consistency, making the most of his experience with Williams and Renault, and became the team’s point-getter with seven finishes out of 16 races. In contrast, Villeneuve only finished in the points twice and left the team before the final round. Takuma Sato, who had been with the team as a reserve and test driver during the year, took Villeneuve’s place in the final round in Japan, where he finished sixth behind Button, who finished fourth, contributing to BAR Honda gaining fifth place in the constructors’ championship.
The BAR Honda 005 underwent major updates since Round 11 in England. The induction pod now had a pentagonal opening, and the rear fairing had been aerodynamically refined by increasing its volume. Button momentarily took the lead in Round 15 the U.S. GP.
From this year, Honda began to station members from Tochigi R&D at BAR, strengthening joint development of the car. Uniform designs were standardized to enhance the team’s sense of unity. Know-how of the Tochigi staff gradually became useful in the development of the car.
Takuma Sato, who replaced Villeneuve in the final round, finished sixth in the Japanese GP. This result, along with Button’s fourth place, helped BAR Honda gain its first fifth place finish in the constructors’ championship since 2000. Sato was also delighted after finishing the race, as it was his first race back in almost a year after losing his full-time F1 seat.