There's an interesting article in a Dutch F1 magazine about the demise of Honda. In the eighties the only thing important to them were the results. When Williams didn't want to pick a number one driver (Mansell or Piquet) to take the title and refuses to give a drive to Nakajima, Honda simply decided to give their engines to Lotus where a young talent (Senna) was doing very well. Even though Williams did win the title in '87 Honda decided to take their engines and Senna to McLaren.
Just when Renault (In the Williams!) starts to win, they retreat from F1 after some very succesful years.
When they return as an engine supplier (Not counting the Mugen years) they make a big mistake of picking the BAR team, who are the biggest money wasters ever known in F1. A lot of people got rich from Honda's and BAT's money, but results were poor. The high costs of F1 today are partially to blame on teams like BAR, Toyota and Red Bull. When Honda bought BAR, they made a crucial mistake putting Fry in charge, as he was 'part of the problem, so he can never be part of the solution'. They've only won one very lucky race so far.
In the eighties Honda would cast aside people like Williams and Prost with ease, now they tolerate people like Fry and Button. It seems the fighting spirit they've shown in the past is long gone. The financial crisis is just a political correct excuse to bail out, but it's the only right decision Honda has made since 2000.