Willis future at Honda in doubt
It is understood that within 24 hours of the team's announcement this week that Shuhei Nakamoto would operate in a more senior role, the Briton decided to quit.
The feeling in F1 circles, however, is that Willis' decision was motivated by an apparent loss of faith in his abilities to lead Brackley-based Honda's technical lineup.
It emerged recently that he would be staying put at the English factory in coming months while former Sauber man Jacky Eeckelaert completes his race weekend duties.
And, concurrent with the Nakamoto confirmation on Tuesday, Honda said in a statement: ''Discussions are currently taking place with (Willis) regarding his future role with the team.''
A spokeswoman would not confirm suggestions that Willis, 47, had left Honda, but she also did not offer a denial.
06/20/06 (GMM) Geoff Willis' future as technical director is in serious doubt as Honda announce the promotion of Shuhei Nakamoto (see related Hot News item).
Hot on the heels of news that Briton Willis will not travel to the next few races, the Japan-owned team revealed in a statement that talks 'are currently taking place … regarding his future role with the team'.
Concurrently, Nakamoto – previously 'engineering director' and a board member – was promoted to the new role of 'senior technical director', understood to involve several of Willis' former responsibilities.
Honda's apparent decline in 2006 reached its lowest ebb at Silverstone, where Jenson Button failed to graduate even from the bottom six group of qualifiers before suffering an engine failure.
''Honda has set itself some very tough targets for its formula one team,'' said team CEO Nick Fry, ''and made a considerable investment in order to achieve them, so we have to ensure that we do everything necessary to pursue those objectives.''