20/03/2007
NEWS STORY
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Helios writes…..
The performance of the Honda team in Melbourne will be one that causes much reflection in the team, wry comments on internet message boards and some heartfelt soul searching by Jenson Button. For Honda now knows the truth about where its 2007 car really is in comparison to the others and I suspect the truth is hurting. Its clear that Ferrari, McLaren and perhaps surprisingly for Nick Fry given his pre-season comments, BMW Sauber, are all monumentally faster than the Brackley racers.
When the team meets this week in the factory for its staff debrief, it is hard to see how Nick Fry can put an optimistic spin on things, but he will need to. Right now he must rise to the challenge and truly lead the team, not in blaming aerodynamics or singling out individual departments for public criticism. He must recognise that all in the team will be feeling the pain and humiliation of their weekend in Melbourne and what they need now is to remain cohesive and focussed as one. Indeed, he needs to deliver a message to the team that is genuinely sincere in its inspiration and motivation, rather than the trademark glib sound bites and PR speak.
It is all too easy at times like this that those whose egos motivate their actions will see their chance, and worse still, those who are trying their best to act for the team are at their most vulnerable. It has happened before in Brackley and must not happen again as its disruptive nature to the team as a whole is huge. Sadly there exists within Brackley a pernicious blame culture which has been referred to in the past by exiting senior staff. This culture is one of the more dubious legacies bestowed upon the team during the period it was under the influence of David Richard's Prodrive management's team.
Like all F1 teams, those staff in Brackley will have worked desperately hard over the winter, many sacrificing seeing their families over the long hours they have put in to ensure that the car is designed and built on time such is their motivation to succeed. It's often something that is taken for granted or not even recognised by the bosses of teams that the level of personal motivation to succeed is unlike that of any other business. Many of those involved in F1 management these days come from Automotive backgrounds and their experience with union backed labour forces and restrictive working practices does not equip them well to relate to a
work force staffed by individuals with an above average level of intelligence, skill and personal motivation. Increasingly these people have found themselves in positions of mid to senior management within the teams and their remit has been more focussed on cost cutting than motivation, technical direction and exploiting the strengths of flexibility and innovation that have so marked out British motorsport engineering in the past.
There are many technically strong characters at Brackley who will know where things are going wrong and how to put them right. It will not be a quick job and may take the best part of a season to fully understand and correct. What must happen is that they be allowed to speak freely and not suffer any repercussions for speaking their minds. All too often it doesn't pay to speak the truth as those who do are singled out as "not being team players" or troublemakers". Often it is quite the reverse. These are the very people who really care about the team and want to see it move to the next level. Some senior management don't see it that way and often act to protect their own positions rather than acting in the best interests of the team as a whole.
Honda must put an end to that culture and accept that honesty will help the team to progress. At the same time the team must take responsibility for its position and accept that those who repeatedly fail to learn from their mistakes and move the team forward are not the individuals to take the team to a world championship. This could mean anyone from design staff, race engineers to an inspector missing a small detail on a part that ultimately leads to its failure in a race. Most of all it means those senior staff on the big salaries that are a consequence of their responsibilities. Now might be the time to reflect on those responsibilities and ask yourselves if you are the ones letting the team down and others taking the blame.
For Jenson and Rubens, they need to examine closely their own role in the team and how they too can lead, motivate and push the foot soldiers that design and build the cars. To the Generals, they must ask bigger questions to understand where the focus has been lost and importantly what is being done to ensure that in three weeks time the team has made measurable progress. The difficulty is that in the next three weeks everyone else will have moved forwards again too.
You can only catch up when you know where you are going and with this car, its clear that Honda is lost