SEPTEMBER 19, 2008

A realignment at Honda Racing F1

There has been a restructuring of the management at Honda Racing F1, which has resulted from the arrival of Ross Brawn almost a year ago.

There has been a restructuring of the management at Honda Racing F1, which has resulted from the arrival of Ross Brawn almost a year ago.

Otmar Szafnauer, who moved into the role of the director of strategy and business planning for Honda Racing F1 and was a member of the board of the team, has moved on as his role as Honda Motor's F1 mouthpiece and as the liaison between the team and the FIA has been taken over by Brawn. Szafnauer is continuing to work for Honda Racing Development in Bracknell on a consultancy basis. HRD provides engine development support and maintenance for the F1 programme, providing technical feedback to Honda R&D in Tochigi. It is headed by Hiroshi Abe, an engineer with more than 20 years of racing experience behind him, including working as an engineer with McLaren-Honda in the Prost-Senna era in 1988 and 1989 and then developing engines for Champ Car in the US. Szafnauer was vice-president of the company before being integrated into the F1 team.

The HRD operation at Bracknell will be relocated to the Honda Racing F1 site in Brackley in the course of 2009.