Fresh from its debut a couple of weeks back at the Detroit Auto Show, Honda’s all-new NSX supercar is heading to Melbourne for the Australian F1 Grand Prix Weekend.
The NSX will be part of a massive Honda involvement with the season-opening GP as the Japanese giant kicks-off its return to F1 racing as the engine supplier to the McLaren team.
Of course Honda has a successful history in F1 – powering both Williams and McLaren to world championships with superstars like Ayrton Senna, Nelson Piquet, Alan Prost and Nigel Mansell.
However word on the street tells us Honda is struggling with development of its new V6 hybrid F1 engine and the sport’s rule-makers have granted a concession to allow development of the engine during the 2015 GP season (last year, as part of cost-saving measures Mercedes-Benz, Renault and Ferrari were required to freeze engine development before the first race).
The other big news from the Australian Grand Prix is an earlier start time – moved forward from 5:00pm to 4:00pm.
While the later start time was instigated to make it easier for the massive European television audience to watch the race (early Sunday morning in Europe), Formula One Management has been forced to make the change for safety reasons.
This stems from the tragic accident in failing light at last year’s Japanese Grand Prix which saw young driver Jules Bianchi critically injured when he crashed into a mobile crane which was moving a crashed car from the side of the Suzuka Circuit.
Bianchi remains in a critical condition in hospital with life-threatening head injuries and following his crash the FIA Accident Panel Report called for changes in the race procedure for every Grand Prix - the earlier start time at Albert Park will enable the race to finish in brighter daylight.
