by Russell Atkins
Nick Fry is confident Honda's eco-warrior new challenger, the RA107, has all the necessary credentials to drive the squad up the grand prix grid as the Japanese concern bids to build on
Jenson Button's triumph in Hungary last season its first in the top flight for 14 years.
The team's CEO is the man in charge of leading Honda to even greater success in 2007, and he is already under pressure following what can most charitably be described as extremely mixed results in pre-season winter testing. He is adamant, however, the only way is up, and that the RA107 has yet to demonstrate its true colours, in the metaphorical sense at least.
I'm extremely excited, he enthused to
Crash.net at the launch of the new car's bright, eco-friendly colour scheme at London's Natural History Museum today. This time of the year is always one when every team is full of anticipation and a little bit of concern as well. You do the best you can during the winter season, but obviously no one really knows where they are until we get into the competitive situation in Melbourne, so it's always a combination of excitement mixed with a little bit of trepidation.
Fry said the strikingly adventurous new paint job was an indication of Honda keeping with the changing times at the forefront of the sport, as well as proof of its firm commitment to protecting the planet.
Our idea was really to advertise environmental awareness, he explained.
Formula 1 is going in a more environmentally-friendly direction. 2009 will see the introduction of energy recovery systems, with more developments in 2010 and more still in 2011. When we started looking at this at the beginning of last year it was clear the environment was a rising concern on everyone's mind, and it's also something which is very close to the heart of
Honda.
