JULY 16, 2007

De Ferran leaves Honda

Gil de Ferran has decided to give up his role as the Sporting Director of Honda Racing F1 and is expected to return to America where he is likely to end up being employed - if he wishes to be - in the Indy Racing League.

De Ferran says that he is leaving because the role he joined the team to do is not what he expected to be doing and he was not happy in the situation in which he found himself. His role was to help the drivers to deal with the large amounts of data are work out how to improve the cars. It seems, however, that the was some resistance to this idea in the technical management.

"A Formula 1 team is rather like a jigsaw puzzle in that every piece has to fit precisely in its place," said Nick Fry. "Gil has become increasingly uncomfortable in his role and feels the time has now come to seek fresh opportunities."