In the 2002 F1 Grand Prix season, Honda will again supply engines to two teams, British American Racing ( BAR), with which Honda will also continue to conduct joint development of chassis technology, and Jordan Grand Prix, just as for the 2001 season. Four race machines from the two teams of "Lucky Strike B.A.R. Honda" and "DHL Jordan Honda" will participate in F1 in the 2002 season.
Regarding Honda's collaboration with BAR which has now entered its third year, Honda recently renewed its contract with the BAR team for another three years, aiming at further accelerating the collaboration in chassis development with the team, which was one of the purposes of Honda's third Grand Prix program, and enhancing the competitive strength of the machines including the development of a better engine. Honda has further strengthened its development organizational structure at the Tochigi R&D Center of Honda R&D Co., Ltd. regarding both "engine" and "chassis" technologies, in order to further promote advances in engine and chassis development and to aim at achieving a substantial improvement in competitiveness.
The persons in charge of Formula 1 technologies at Honda
| Head of Racing Technology Development: | Toru Ogawa, Senior Chief Engineer, Honda R&D Co., Ltd. Tochigi R&D Center |
| Head of Powerplant Technology Development: | Kazutoshi Nishizawa, Chief Engineer, Honda R&D Co., Ltd. Tochigi R&D Center |
| Head of Chassis Technology Development: | Ken Hashimoto, Executive Chief Engineer, Honda R&D Co., Ltd. Tochigi R&D Center |
Outline of Honda Racing Development Ltd. (abbreviation: HRD)
| President: | Shoichi Tanaka |
| Race/Test Team Manager: | Shuhei Nakamoto |
| Location: | Bracknell, Berkshire, U.K. |
| Business activities: | As the frontline base for F1 race activities: |
| · Feedback about vehicle technologies · Maintenance of engines · Liaison/Public Relations activities, etc. |
Outline of the 2002 Honda Formula 1 Engine
Compared with the RA001E used in 2001, the new engine features a wider bank angle and achieves a higher power output, is lighter in weight, more compact and has a lower center of gravity.
| Engine name: | Honda RA002E |
| Configuration: | Naturally aspirated 3.0 liter V10 |
| Output: | Over 800 horsepower |
The F1 teams
*Lucky Strike B.A.R. Honda
| Team Principal: | David Richards |
| Location: | Brackley, Northampton, U.K. |
| Drivers: | Jacques Villeneuve (Canada) Olivier Panis (France) |
| Chassis: | BAR004 |
*DHL Jordan Honda
| Chief Executive: | Eddie Jordan |
| Location: | Silverstone, Northampton, U.K. |
| Drivers: | Takuma Sato (Japan) Giancarlo Fisichella (Italy) |
| Chassis: | EJ12 |
Actual testing for the 2002 season, which started in January 2002, will be concluded at the Silverstone Circuit on February 20th for DHL Jordan Honda, and at the Paul Ricard Circuit for Lucky Strike B.A.R. Honda. The final of the first race of the season will take place on March 3rd at the Australian Grand Prix (Melbourne).
<Australian Grand Prix>
Schedule:
| March 1st (Fri.) | 11:00 -12:00 | Free practice |
| 13:00 - 14:00 | Free practice | |
| March 2nd (Sat.) | 9:00 - 9:45 | Free practice |
| 10:00 - 10:45 | Free practice | |
| 13:00 - 14:00 | Qualifying | |
| March 3rd (Sun.) | 9:30 - 10:00 | Warm-up |
| 14:00 | Start of the final |
(All times are local. Add two hours for the time in Japan)