Nope, politics and reality got Honda out of F1.
When the rules stated that the motor as raced at Suzuka in 2007 was to be the
FINAL design permitted to race in 2008, the Honda motor was the most powerful on the grid, saddled with the worst chassis on the grid.
This was politically unacceptable to the big teams of F1, so some teams were allowed to modify their motors for, ahem "reliability" purposes. Ferrari and Mercedes motors promptly started popping seams and failing to finish! So much for reliability!
Yes the Honda motor lacked power and driveability by the end of the 2008 season, BUT Honda would have been allowed to "improve" their motor, just as Renault were allowed to for this year. Would it have been as good as the Mercedes motor? Probably not, but then it was not being monitored by an ECU that is supplied to the whole grid by an associated company [as the Mercedes is].
Reality check #1 - Was it viable for Honda to spend how many millions of dollars to up-grade their F1 motor for one last hurrah?? In retrospect, the obvious answer [especially from a marketing perspective] is obviously - YES. What price hindsight :frown: But to the oh so proper suits at Honda HQ without the benefit of hindsight, well we know the answer
Reality check #2 - Honda wanted a
Japanese Honda F1 racing team, with all that implied about home grown Japanese engineers, team leaders and managers. What they got was Fry
and Brawn
The less said about Fry, the better, but with Brawn they got the real thing, but Japanese he was not! Nakamoto was Japanese
, and his legacy, rightfully or wrongly is the RA 107 and 108 debacle!!!! Brawn would give them a chassis worthy of Honda, but not a worthy Japanese chassis [even though there was significant input from Honda Japan!]
Reality check #3 - GFC
The result? Eternal anguish at what might have been for all Honda F1 enthusiasts. It is enough to make me take up drinking. Oh wait, I already do that to excess :biggrin: