Its purpose was similar to the one surrounding the Toyota TF101 of 2001, in that it was supposed to be a working test car used in preparation for a full-scale assault on Grand Prix racing in the following years.

Honda Racing had last competed in Formula One as a constructor in the 1960s but had pulled out of the sport, after its driver Jo Schlesser was killed in one of its cars in the 1968 French Grand Prix at Rouen.

This he did, and the car, built by Italian company and former F1 constructor in their own right Dallara, tested at Jerez in the hands of Dutch driver Jos Verstappen with some success.

The project was looking promising, with the prototype machine setting competitive midfield times in tests alongside better funded and more established F1 teams.

However, the project was aborted indefinitely after Postlethwaite's death from a heart attack at one of the Jerez tests, and the Dallara built tubs were no longer required.