According to Austrian newspaper Osterreich, Honda are planning to keep their driver line-up of Jenson Button and Rubens Barrichello for the 2008 season despite neither driver managing to pick up a single point so far this year.

Jenson Button is shouldering the blame for an embarrassing incident which saw the two Hondas clip each other, causing Button to lose his front wing.

Honda are trying out a radical new look for their car to try and sort out the handling problems that have plagued them so far. In the first few races of the season, the car has suffered from instabilities under braking and the team believe this is caused by problems with their front wing. In an attempt to cure the problem, ’elephant ears’ have been added to the top of the nose and painted in the team’s colours.

British newspaper The Times has said that Honda will be scrapping it’s RA107 car after next month’s Monaco grand prix. This season so far, the car has performed well below par, at best, finishing a poor eleventh. In Malaysia, Rubens Barrichello qualified 19th - behind both Super Aguris which have an identical chassis and engine to Honda’s 2006 car.

Jenson Button has said Honda need to sort out their aerodynamic problems after a terrible Australian grand prix over the weekend. Button finished a disappointing 15th after qualifying in 14th, and was lapped by Raikkonen during the race. After the race, he complained that his “car felt rubbish.”

Honda have signed a contract with Mike Conway and promised him a Formula 1 test later in the year. In a statement, Honda have said, “At the same time as competing in the GP2 series, Mike will have the opportunity to steadily integrate himself into the workings of a top Formula One team.”

According to rumours, Honda are planning some big upgrades before the second race in Malaysia. According to Shuhei Nakamoto, Honda Racing F1’s Senior Technical Director, “there will be a big upgrade at the Sepang test, and also a revision to the suspension. At the moment we are ahead of Red Bull and Toyota, but behind the rest. I know BMW have been using a non-2007 wing so they lose one or two-tenths, but we are still behind.”

Honda’s green car has been the major talking point in F1 since it’s launch yesterday. Many critics have said that the sentiment is good, however the RA107 will still pump huge quanitities of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere because it is still burning fossil fuels in the form of petrol. An F1 car emits nearly nine times more carbon dioxide per kilometre than a standard road car.

Honda’s new RA107 car has just been launched. Featuring a huge image of the Earth as it’s livery in place of the normal advertising and sponsor logos, Honda is aiming to promote the awareness of environmental issues currently facing the planet and aims to showcase Honda’s commitment to addressing environmental issues the world over.

British driver Jenson Button has denied claims that Honda are in the midst of a crisis after they put in some poor times at testing in Barcelona. None of the Honda drivers - Button, Barrichello or Klien - managed a top ten time on any of the three days.