Honda did well in the second half of 2006 and everyone felt that the next step would happen and they would be up on the podium on a consistent basis, but it never came together either. In fact it went very sour and even the sister team,
Super Aguri, beat them on occasions and out-performed them. They took a wrong turn and they have paid the price for that. They have had to endure the season and now look at a re-structure. That re-structure looks very healthy and it just depends how long it will take to put it all in place.
Crash.net:
How would you assess the year for
Williams and
Red Bull Racing?
MB:
I think Williams and Red Bull Racing both did a very good job, especially the former. Bearing in mind what Williams had in terms of budget - which definitely wasn’t up there with the big teams at the front of the grid - and bearing in mind they were using a
Toyota engine as a customer, to outpace the Toyotas on many occasions and score 33 points and finish fourth in the constructors’ was commendable. They were very good performers and that just showed the depth of engineering and the desire still to win from the team. A lot of it was done with
Nico Rosberg behind the wheel and he has probably been one of the most outstanding guys over the course of the season. They have got more to come. It just depends on whether they have got the resource to match it.
Crash.net:
The battle at the back was just as tight as at the front - although Toro Rosso ultimately won there by scoring eight points to the four notched up by Super Aguri and the one scored by Spyker. How did you feel those three teams got on?
MB:
Toro Rosso were up and down a little bit - they were trying to stabilise themselves to understand what was underneath them and where they could go. They did seem to have a little bit of a push halfway through with
Sebastian Vettel stepping up to the plate. However you tended to feel that there was more to come, but it never actually shone through.
