03/12/2007
NEWS STORY
No sooner had Jenson Button warned that Honda had better seriously shape up in 2008 or he was off, than the Brackley based outfit was announcing the arrival of Ferrari technical and strategy guru Ross Brawn.
After a dreadful year, the Japanese outfit, and indeed Button, is hoping that Brawn will bring the same sort of success he brought to Benetton and then Ferrari.
Speaking to Reuters Television at Wembley, where he is preparing for the Race of Champions, the English driver voiced his enthusiasm at Brawn's appointment, and the hope of a new, successful, era at Brackley.
"Honda is looking very exciting for the future. I think 2008 is going to be a good year," he said.
"I don't think you can say we will be challenging for the championship," he admitted, "because we won't be strong enough at the first race.
"Coming from where we were to winning the championship has never been done before," he added. "So we're pushing very hard for a good car and for me the most important thing is to see improvements at every race we go to next season and a lot of that will be down to Ross and the aerodynamics of the car. Hopefully towards the end of the year we can get some very positive results.
"Before he opens his mouth it lifts the team because of what he has achieved," added the Englishman, who, having finished sixth in the 2006 Drivers' Championship, finished a lowly fifteenth in 2007. "He comes with a lot of experience and he also falls into a role that we haven't had for a long time, the leadership on the technical side. And that's what we need.
"We have some great ideas within the team but I don't think people recognise them. With Ross there, it will make a big difference. Before Ross arrived at the team I was excited about the future because of the people we've employed and are employing, a few people are arriving on the first of January when they are allowed to.
"But when I heard that Ross was thinking of coming to Honda, I had a big smile on my face. It is the best news we've had with Honda for a long time."
It's understood that Brawn will attend this week's test at Jerez, the last of 2007, which gets underway tomorrow (Tuesday).