Ross's job is to take the different departments at Honda and make them all sing from the same hymn sheet (work together for the same goals). They've lacked that since Richards and Willis left. RB's influence will first be felt in the factory, he'll get people to work his way, then he'll turn his attention to race day...
I don't think the RA108 should be written off just yet. This was a shakedown of the engineering beneath the skin more than anything. The new bodywork is being readied for next week(?) and this will be a better judge of how they've done, but they have a very big mountain to climb.
Look at Williams, they've taken a few years to turn around and seem to be close to a break through in terms of raw pace...
Having said all that I wouldn't be amazed if there was an RA108B at some point...especially if there is a packaging issue leading to over-heating which was mentioned last week.
F1-Live.com...
"Lap times were slow but also because on the first day it made no sense to push too hard," he added. "In any case we are awaiting the new aerodynamics," Barrichello said. He also explained that the Brackley based team experienced normal shakedown gremlins with the new car, but confirmed that the RA108 already feels better than its predecessor under braking.