The high hopes expressed in the launch release quoted above have obviously not been realized. Honda seems to have been wrong-footed by the pace of development set by its rivals. "I wouldn't say we were surprised by Formula One," Shoichi Tanaka, president of Honda Racing Development, said at the beginning of this season, "but we realized that all the car manufacturers were more serious that we thought - and it is no surprise they are. Maybe in the past we were the only ones who were so serious about Formula One."

During the 2001 season Tanaka-san had this to say: "We have been learning for the past two years, and it has been a bitter lesson. We must work harder than the other top teams if we are to succeed." So far this year there is little evidence that this effort has been expended or, if it has been, that it is achieving results. If one or the other of Jordan and BAR were doing well, no fingers could be pointed at the engine. But when both are floundering it's pretty clear that a lack of power - the right kind of power - is a shared shortcoming.

Traditionally, Honda has staffed its racing-engine operation with engineers from its mainstream product-design cadres. They rotate in and out of the racing activity to give them added skills and insights. Beneficial though this has been to Honda's vehicle development, it has sometimes short-changed the racing effort. Engineers like Osamu Goto and Eiji Taguchi, who have made important contributions to Honda's racing effort, have been promoted up and out of the motorsports programs. The same applies to senior Honda engineers who have gone on to run the company.

If this is what Honda is still doing - and I suspect that it is - it's not good enough in today's competitive circumstances. We can be certain that this is being pointed out in Japan by those who are all too aware that Toyota, starting virtually from scratch and with its own car as well as engine, is making Honda look pretty bad. To be sure, Toyota has done it with a multinational team of engineers at its Cologne base. Complaints from Japan are that there aren't enough Japanese involved with the Toyota effort. Certainly Toyota is less worried about using its Formula One entry to train engineers than it is in doing well - which it has done so far to an astonishing degree. Either Honda will step up to a more serious and aggressive approach to its engine building, to match and surpass Toyota, or it will withdraw ignominiously from Formula One. My guess is that the latter is the more likely.

Such a withdrawal shouldn't be for a while yet. Honda is contracted to supply Jordan through 2003 - with options for two more years - and BAR through 2004. We haven't heard much lately about the ambitious plans for Honda to help BAR in technical areas other than engines; we can be confident that David Richards will be taking a close look at that aspect of their relationship. After the race in Malaysia Richards said that his team has it all to do this year: "Both drivers and all the team put in an enormous effort over the weekend, but our problems were there for everyone to see. Despite the fact that Jacques finished 8th, we very clearly have an enormous mountain to climb and we won't achieve our goals without some radical changes." Richards will certainly be hoping for a stronger contribution from his Japanese partners.