Lucky Strike BAR Honda
| Season: | 2005 | | | | Address: | British American Racing Operations Centre
Brackley, Northamptonshire
NN13 7BD
United Kingdom
Tel: +44 (0)1280 844 000
Fax: +44 (0)1280 844 001 | | | | Country: | Great-Britain | | | | Sponsors: | British American Tobacco (Lucky Strike), Honda, 555, Intercond, Seiko, NTN, EDS, Michelin, Barconexxis, Acorn, Showa, Avaya, Koni, CRP, Lincoln Electrics, Technogym, Oz Racing, Devilbiss Automotive Refinishing, Brunotti, Sandvik Coromant, GS. | | | | Chief executive officer: | Nick Fry | | | | Technical director: | Geoffry Willis | | | | Sporting director: | Gil de Ferran | | | | Team manager: | Ron Medows | | | | Chief aerodynamicist: | Williams Toet | | | | Chief mechanic: | Alistair Gibson | | | | Chief engineer: | Craig Wilson | | | | Engineer: | Jock Clear & Andrew Shovlin | | | | Test driver: | Anthony Davidson & Enrique Bernoldi | | | | Constructor: | BAR | | |
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Lucky Strike BAR Honda
After a superb 2004 season, many would have been expecting
BAR to be championship challengers this season, if not then certainly race winners.
Sadly not.
Where it all went wrong for the team isn’t exactly known. It could have been the loss of David Richards, their ex-team boss. Or it could have been the fact that at the start of the season the team had a driver who didn’t particularly want to be there-
Jenson Button.
The team entered Australia with a whimper rather than a bang. However it was undoubtedly a sign of things to come in 2005. BAR set the headlines for all the wrong reasons at Albert Park, and would do so twice more later in the year.
Jenson Button had an average qualifying lap in the rain, starting eighth on the grid. However
Takuma Sato crashed, causing him to start nineteenth. Nearing the end of a disappointing race, neither driver was in the points. At this point the team decided to employ a loophole in the new ‘1-engine-per-2-races’ rule, and both drivers parked on the final lap, giving them new engines for the next race in Malaysia. The loophole had been considered prior to the race, but many expected it to be used by a team such as
Minardi, and certainly not by a team like BAR-Honda.
The loophole was quickly closed immediately after the race, but BAR weren’t reprimanded. This gave the team the chance to solve their car problems before the next race in
Sepang.
However the team had more things to worry about. Flu-stricken Takuma Sato was replaced by
Anthony Davidson just days before the race. Sadly his BAR debut lasted just two laps, as his, and Button’s, engines blew up on the second lap. Many in the sport were secretly happy that BAR’s plans had backfired on them. Bahrain wasn’t much better. Neither driver started in the top ten, and both retired in the second half of the race.
It seemed like BAR had finally turned it around at Imola, the first European race of the season. Button finished third, Sato fifth. However the team were found to be using an illegal fuel tank, and not only were they disqualified from the results, but were also banned from the next two races in Spain and Monaco.
It would be the European Grand Prix before BAR could race again. Polishing off five-week-old engines, the team were confident that they could perform well, even win, on their return. It turned out to be an empty threat, they weren’t much better than in Bahrain. In Canada Button looked all set for a podium until he hit the famous Wall of Champions. The U.S Grand Prix came and went without the team even driving a competitive lap against a fellow car. Still no points from nine races, and the team were getting worried.
Finally the team got points in France, with Jenson scoring a solid, if unspectacular, fourth place, a lap of the winners. Sato had an embarrassing run to eleventh, in which he went off track twice. More points came at Silverstone. Button qualified on the front row but fell back into fifth place. Sato stalled before he reached the grid and retired.
Button finally returned to the podium at Hockenheim with third place. Prior to Hungary the team’s preparation was once again set back by Jenson Button’s transfer saga. At Hungary the year before it became clear Button wanted to leave to join
Williams, and had signed a contract with the Grove-based team and BAR. After much political manoeuvring, Button was forced to stay at BAR, but Williams were given the option of taking him for 2006. But now in late-July 2006 the situation was reversed, with Button now wanting to stay at BAR. The situation disturbed BAR’s preparation for the race. Despite this, Button took sixth at the Hungaroring with Takuma Sato also took his first point of the season with eighth position.
In the three week gap prior to the inaugural Turkish Grand Prix BAR were busy at the negotiating table. In one of the worst-kept secrets of the year,
Rubens Barrichello was confirmed on a two-year contract reportedly worth £24m. Rumours had been circulating since Monaco that the Brazilian could be on his way to the team. BAR were also discussing the possibility of having Nick Heidfield
? on board for the 2006 season. The German would be likely to lose out should Button be forced to join Williams.
The inaugural Turkish Grand Prix looked like being a good race for the BAR team. In practice they matched the
Renaults for pace. However qualifying ruined their hopes. Both drivers made mistakes at the tricky Turn 8, while Sato had his time disallowed for hindering
Mark Webber. The team showed their form in the race, with Button taking fifth and Sato recovering to ninth on a one-stop strategy.
The team went into the Italian Grand Prix just seventh in the championship, but only two points off the
Red Bull Racing team. It looked like they would take sixth at Monza, with Button starting third and Sato fourth. However in the race it seemed to go wrong for the team. Sato had refuelling problems on his first stop, while Button lacked pace as soon as he came out of his. Button took a solitary point in eighth, but it was well below expectations.
BAR bounced back in Belgium, although in fortuitous circumstances. On a damp track the car seemed to struggle at first, and both drivers lost out when making an incorrect tyre choice during a safety car induced first stop melee. On his return Sato clouted the back of
Michael Schumacher, who had similarly made the wrong tyre decision. Both drivers retired, while Sato was later handed a ten place grid penalty for the next race in Brazil. Button fared a lot better, making the switch to dries at a much better time which allowed him to storm ahead of Barrichello and Webber to take third position and a place on the podium.
The penalty plus an engine change ensured Takuma Sato would start plumb last in Brazil, while Button qualified as high as fourth. However Button seemed to lack straight-line speed in the race and quickly dropped to seventh after being picked off on the long pit straight. Sato was given the ‘Suzuka Special’ engine a race earlier than scheduled and flew up the order, although by the end of the race he was just outside the points in ninth.
Between Brazil and Japan interesting news started to emerge from Honda. The engine manufacturer had bought the team ahead of 2006 and BAR were effectively no more. They also planned to start a B-team, running Takuma Sato and Anthony Davidson. By season's end this new team was introduced by
Aguri Suzuki, former Formula 1 driver and the first Japanese to take an F1 podium.
BAR’s home Grand Prix started relatively well. Button benefited from the wet-dry qualifying session to take second on the grid alongside
Ralf Schumacher. The only thing to spoil the Japanese feel-good factor was Takuma Sato’s dreadful weekend. Having made an engine change, Taku would have to start ten places down. However a great Saturday for Button would turn into a disastrous Sunday. Button immediately dropped to third at the start, out-dragged by
Giancarlo Fisichella. Button may have benefited from Ralf Schumacher’s dreadful strategy, but over the course of the race he was passed by
Fernando Alonso,
Kimi Raikkonen and even Webber’s Williams on the way to fifth place. At least his race went better than Takuma Sato’s, who collided with
Jarno Trulli on lap nine, incurring the wrath of the Italian and the race stewards.
There were rumours about Sato’s participation in China. The team apparently considered replacing him with Anthony Davidson. It might have been a good idea, with Sato receiving two ten place grid penalties, the first for the collision at Suzuka, the second for another change. Sato therefore would start plumb last, no matter how good his qualifying was. Button did well to take fourth on the grid, but once again he would go backwards during the race, eventually dropping to eighth. Sato’s BAR career ended when his gearbox packed up on lap thirty-four.
Overall 2005 was a disappointing season, but with Gil De Ferran’s help the team turned their fortunes around. BAR beat Red Bull to sixth in the championship, but ultimately it was below expectations. This wasn’t helped much by a measly point from Takuma Sato, who was the disappointment of the year after his strong 2004 showing.
Statistics
| Statistic | # | Percentage | First | Last |
| Number of Grand Prix | 34 | 100% |  2005 |  2005 |
| Number of starts | 34 | 100.00% | 2005 | 2005 |
| Number of finishes | 20 | 58.82% | 2005 | 2005 |
| Number of finishes on podium | 2 | 5.88% |  2005 |  2005 |
| Number of finishes in points | 11 | 32.35% |  2005 | 2005 |
| Number of retirements | 14 | 41.18% | 2005 | 2005 |
| Number of pole positions | 1 | 2.94% |  2005 | 2005 |
