Honda F1

Politics. F1 is the international soap opera of the racing world.

Here's an eye-opening article about the BAR-Honda debacle (good read) and the motivation behind "outing" a scapegoat for the GPWC:
Politics is a four-letter word

Anyway, here's part of the FIA Statement:

"WHEREAS it is not possible for the Court to find, on the basis of the evidence that it was provided with, that Lucky Strike BAR Honda deliberately committed fraud, their actions at the time of the emptying procedure of the vehicle after the event, and the fact that they did not use their right in accordance with Article 2.4, to address a request for clarification on the rules to the Technical Formula One Department of the FIA, show at the least a highly regrettable negligence and lack of transparency..."

So, you might be wondering, were BAR-Honda banned simply because they didn't answer a question?

Arguably, that's pretty much it. The FIA claimed that BAR purposefully failed to follow orders when asked to drain their fuel tank. BAR's stance was that they complied with the request and drained all fuel that would be excluded from the minimum weight regulations (the fuel used during the race). The FIA accused them of trying to hide fuel to use as "ballast." BAR proved that this was never the case.

BAR explained that they didn't drain the pickup tank because it would never be drained during the race. The pickup tank needed to be completely full at all times to maintain pressure in the fuel system. Therefore, the car could never run underweight during the race because if the pressure was lost, the car would fail to be operational.

In my opinion, BAR-Honda was set up because all the details of the fuel system had been shared with the FIA technical board previously so it wasn't some big secret. To further their claims of innocence, BAR-Honda even posted up all the technical details in a pdf file of their fuel tank setup on the BARHondaF1.com website for the world to see (rival teams too).
Anyway, much like Indy, everyone's got a take on the "fuel tank" fiasco at San Marino. To me, the charges were politically motivated and totally baseless. Mosley and his thugs just wanted to make a power play and embarass Honda because of their affiliation with the GPWC.

Balzz

Have you read Murray Walker's book Unless I'm Very Much Mistaken? He's had quite the life.

Nsxnext1

Thank you

Well said..