Geoff Willis officially leaves Honda Racing F1

By Phil Huff
August 18 2006

The Honda Racing F1 Team and its Technical Director Geoffrey Willis have reached a mutual agreement to conclude their working relationship.

As detailed here on RealHondaF1.com in the last week, the team have spent the current break in F1 proceedings negotiating the release conditions for Geoff Willis, who will now reaquaint himself with previous team boss David Richards at the Prodrive F1 outfit.

"Geoff has made an invaluable technical contribution to the development of our team over the last five years," explained current team chief Nick Fry, "leading to our second place in the F1 Constructors Championship in 2004 and of course contributing towards the momentous occasion of our first win in Hungary two weeks ago. His unwavering focus on the quality of our engineering and the introduction of robust engineering processes has provided foundations that will stand the team in good stead for years to come and pave the way for future success. I would like to thank Geoff both personally and from all our team. We wish him every success in the future."

Shuhei Nakamoto, formerly Engineering Director for Honda Racing Development, was appointed Senior Technical Director of the Honda Racing F1 Team in June of this year, a position above that held by Willis. This, naturally, caused significant conflict, resulting in Geoff walking out of the team. Officially on 'gardening leave', negotiations have continued since to finalise the severance.

Geoff, soon to be announced as the Technical Director at Prodrive F1, commented "The last five years with the team has been a very challenging but rewarding time for me. It has also been a period of great change for the team and I would like to thank all of my colleagues who have helped to set and achieve new standards and establish the team as a technology leader in Formula One.

"It has been a great pleasure and an education to work with such an enthusiastic and capable group of people and I wish them every success in the future."