Imagine if you'd told the Honda Board last year that the first Grand Prix Qualifying of 2009 would see:
- McLaren languishing at the tail end of the field: P14,15
- Ferrari struggling to qualify in the top ten: P7,9
- Honda locking out the front row: Pole and Second
Would they still have pulled out of Formula 1?
That's what happened today leaving Brawn GP and Virgin, thanks to a last minute deal from a very happy Richard Branson, to benefit of the hundreds of millions Honda invested since taking over BAR.
It's quite possible they'll win the race tomorrow, maybe even the rest of the fly-away races leaving McLaren, Ferrari and the rest scrambling to catch up. Imagine Brawn GP get to mid-year with cars at the sharp end of the championship and a real possibility of challenging for the title?
Honda funded all that, then walked away at precisely the wrong time. A money saving decision that might turn out to be one of the most expensive mistakes in Formula 1 history.
PS: One thing Brawn do need to work on is a better website. The current one is littered with PDF files leading to a miserable browsing experience. Given the turmoil of the last few months, and the fact that they've made a winning car, maybe it's only temporary.
