HONDA RA108

   The last year of Honda in Formula 1 (as a full constructor) is far from what one would call a grand farewell. On the contrary, much like 2007, 2008 is perhaps the worst season of the Japanese manufacturer’s second stint as a constructor. After a disastrous 2007 campaign, Honda sought redemption in 2008 and, to achieve it, appointed none other than Ross Brawn (the mastermind behind Schumacher’s successes, first at Benetton and then at Ferrari) as Team Principal. Despite his arrival, the new RA108 proved to be an extremely difficult car to drive and uncompetitive. Directly derived from the 2007 car, the RA108 suffered from structural flaws that even Brawn’s genius could not fix during the season, including chronic instability in high-speed corners, where it generated significantly less aerodynamic downforce than the top teams, along with unpredictable rear-end behavior and sudden losses of grip.

HONDA RA108 Rubens Barrichello
Spa-Francorchamps, Belgian GP 2008  

   The 2008 season was the last in which the regulations granted designers almost total freedom from an aerodynamic standpoint. As a result, the Honda RA108 represented the peak of aerodynamic extremism in Formula 1, but also the failure of that philosophy for the Brackley-based team in West Northamptonshire, England. The car was virtually covered in aerodynamic appendages, such as the “elephant ears” on the nose (two curved fins near the front suspension designed to divert turbulent air from the front wheels and channel it toward the sidepods), the Viking Wings on the air intake above the driver’s head (vertical fins to stabilize airflow toward the rear wing when cornering), and the chimneys for hot air extraction positioned above the sidepods, integrated with T-shaped wing profiles to clean up airflow directed to the rear. The front wing and bargeboards system was also highly complex, designed to direct airflow toward the underbody and aerodynamically seal the floor. However, all this aerodynamic complexity resulted in significant instability under pitch (braking and acceleration) or crosswinds, making the car unpredictable, shifting abruptly from understeer to oversteer mid-corner without warning, thereby undermining driver confidence.

HONDA RA108 Jenson Button
Catalunya-Barcelona, Spanish GP 2008

   Beneath the “Earth Dreams” livery (in 2008 Honda again ran without sponsors, instead promoting environmental awareness), the RA108 concealed interesting technical solutions plagued by chronic integration issues. The mechanical side combined solid engine performance with design choices that, unfortunately, failed to properly integrate with the chassis. The Honda RA808E engine was an evolution of the 2007 V8, producing around 750 hp, some tens of horsepower less than Ferrari and Mercedes, but with admirable reliability. One of the car’s most advanced features was its carbon and aluminum gearbox, equipped with a seamless shift system (gear changes without interruption of torque). However, its large size forced designers to create a bulky rear end, compromising diffuser efficiency. The car’s true Achilles’ heel, though, was its suspension system, whose kinematics failed to properly absorb track irregularities, causing premature overheating of the rear tires, a problem that plagued the team throughout the season. In an attempt to stabilize the aerodynamic platform (prevent excessive bouncing), Honda introduced a sophisticated central third damper, whose mechanical setup was so complex that the team often struggled to find the ideal configuration. Despite engineers’ efforts to miniaturize every component in pursuit of minimal weight, the RA108 remained a very “sluggish” car in direction changes, mainly due to the suspension system’s inability to respond effectively to driver inputs.

HONDA RA108 Rubens Barrichello
Spa-Francorchamps, Belgian GP 2008 

   Honda’s technical department in 2008 was a living paradox: it had one of the largest budgets in Formula 1 (estimated at over $400 million) and a “dream team” of engineers that, on paper, should have dominated. Yet, that group spent an entire year trying to understand why the RA108 was so slow. Ross Brawn, who joined Brackley at the end of 2007 after his sabbatical following Ferrari, took on the role of Team Principal with full authority, inheriting a fragmented structure split between the Brackley headquarters in England and Honda’s research center in Tochigi, Japan. The Technical Director was Shuhei Nakamoto, acting as a bridge between Japanese and British engineering philosophies. After Honda’s withdrawal from F1, he would become the legendary head of Honda HRC in MotoGP, leading riders such as Casey Stoner and Marc Márquez to success. Jörg Zander (a highly experienced engineer from Williams and BMW-Sauber) served as Chief Designer, while Loïc Bigois (Head of Aerodynamics) led wind tunnel development, assisted by Takeru Abe, who developed his ideas in Japan. The main issue within the 2008 staff was communication: components designed in England had to be approved, and sometimes even redesigned, in Japan, following different philosophies and resulting in a car disconnected between mechanics and aerodynamics. Other key figures in Brackley included Jacky Eeckelaert (Engineering Director), Kevin Taylor (Chief Designer), Craig Wilson (Head of Vehicle Engineering), Ian Wright (Chief Engineer, Vehicle Dynamics), Russell Cooley (Chief Engineer, Transmission and Mechanical), as well as the very young James Vowles (now Williams Team Principal) and Andrew Shovlin (a key figure in Mercedes’ success during the Hamilton era). In Tochigi, the V8 engine program was led by Yasuhiro Honda (Head of Engine Design) and Kazuo Sakurahara (Engine Project Leader).

HONDA RA108 Rubens Barrichello
Interlagos, Brazilian GP 2008

   The drivers, retained from 2007, were the Englishman Jenson Button and the Brazilian Rubens Barrichello, who described the RA108 as one of the most frustrating cars they had ever driven. The car failed to generate sufficient downforce, forcing drivers to lift off the throttle in high-speed corners; the abundance of aerodynamic appendages made it unstable, with sudden losses of downforce; and the mechanical setup failed to bring the tires into their optimal operating window, wearing them out prematurely. The paradox lay in the correlation between promising wind tunnel data and poor on-track performance, a contradiction that Brawn chose to abandon well before mid-season in order to focus entirely on designing the 2009 car that would bear his name. By the end of the season, Honda Racing’s financial troubles led the Japanese manufacturer to withdraw from Formula 1, selling the entire team to Ross Brawn for the symbolic sum of £1. With only 14 points (6 of which came from a fortunate third place by Barrichello in the rain-soaked British Grand Prix) and a 9th-place finish in the Constructors’ Championship, Honda’s second, and so far last, Formula 1 chapter came to a close.