Earth Day – When Honda defended the climate cause in F1

So engaged in Formula 1, the Japanese manufacturer is organizing the presentation of its car on February 26, 2007 in the prestigious and original setting of the Natural History Museum in London. When Jenson Button and Rubens Barrichello lifted the veil on the car, it was amazement: no visible sponsor and a unique livery, where the Earth is represented from space!

Honda wishes to demonstrate its environmental concern through this unusual decoration. Around thirty partners give up visibility on the bodywork in exchange for this publicity stunt. A website, My Earth Dream.com, was launched to raise awareness. Anyone wishing to have their name written (in difficult to read characters and for a small transaction) on the car can request it on this site. 

Unfortunately, green-washing, sorry, ecological sensitivity, will hardly be visible. Not because of the livery, which contrasts completely with the usual colors seen in F1, but more because of the lack of competitiveness of the car.

Rather than circling around the wing, let's give the floor to Jenson Button, who recently explained his memories on his Instagram page in these terms. “I was running with number 7. Well, I understood that season that no number is lucky! At least we were saving the planet”, he said ironically.

 

 

 

 

See this post on Instagram

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Day9 #aracecaraday is the Honda RA107. After such a good 2006 with clinching our first win and quite a few podiums we expected 2007 to be pretty special, I was also racing with lucky number 7! Well that year I realized no number is lucky! Pretty bad year with hardly any point scoring finishes but at least we were saving the planet!#earthdreams credit @motorsport.images

A publication shared by Jenson Button (@jensonbutton) on April 3, 2020 at 9:15 am PDT

Honda had to wait until the eighth round to snatch its first two points, and only brought back a measly six points in 17 events. Enough to place it eighth in the Manufacturers' table. A monumental failure given the good form displayed during the previous year (a victory, 4th among the Manufacturers) and above all, the lesson inflicted by the small Super Aguri structure, supposed to be a customer of Honda but which has constantly driven more quickly.

The 2007-08 offseason is an opportunity for Honda to get back on track. First of all, it attracts a technical leader into its ranks, Ross Brawn. The Brit arrives too late to influence the 2008 car, so he will have to get through the next few months as best he can.

The Japanese brand's marketing department remains faithful to the "Earth Dreams" theme but the livery is lighter with a less invasive planet, white instead of space black and two vintage stripes along the nose. 

The fastest racing cars are always the most beautiful, as the saying goes. In this case, the Honda R108 comes close to an error of nature, unfortunately made worse by aero extravagances such as the Dumbo ears on the front wing or the shark fin.

However, the magic of F1 allows “Rubinho” Barrichello to score a improbable podium under the English flood from Silverstone. This performance will have no future because Honda falls one place in the Manufacturers' championship (9th)!

Jenson Button will have a sense of the formula to describe the behavior of this car. “Yeah, it had fins, fins and more and more fins, but none of them really helped ! The only circumstance it worked in was in the wet. »

Disillusioned and taking advantage of the economic crisis of the fall, Honda announces its withdrawal from F1 while the 2009 single-seater is already well advanced under the aegis of Ross Brawn. This is called bad timing.