Autoblog

The Honda Racing F1 Team didn't win a lot of fans when it pulled the bold move of ditching its sponsors and painting the 2007 car like a globe. Thankfully, the Japanese team has revealed that it'll be ditching the map scheme for next season's car, the RA108.

The world map livery was instituted last year to promote Honda's environmental conscience, but came off as an ironic statement considering that it was painted on a gasoline-slurping F1 car. The only slogan on the car was the rear wing that pointed spectators to the team's tree-hugging website, myearthdream.com. But while the 2008 car won't carry the global map theme itself, the new livery will bear some sort of environmental slant to it. We'll have to wait for the it's unveiling on January 29 to see exactly what Honda has in store for us.

In related news, Honda F1 announced that it's hired veteran Austrian racer Alexander Wurz as its test driver. Wurz had announced his immediate retirement from F1 in the middle of last season, and cited the opportunity to work with Honda's new chief Ross Brawn as a principal motivating factor for his return.

[Sources: F1-Live and autosport]