Honda pulls out of Formula One

Eurosport - Fri, 05 Dec 16:57:00 2008

Honda Motor Co has announced that it is pulling out of Formula One motor racing, although next year's Japanese Grand Prix at the Suzuka circuit will still go ahead as planned.

2008 Honda Rubens Barrichello - 0

Amid slumping car sales triggered by the worldwide downturn, Honda are no longer willing to bankroll the Formula One team and its estimated annual budget of $500 million.

Honda Motor Co Chief Executive Takeo Fukui told said a return to the sport could take time, and that there were no plans to continue as an engine supplier.

"This difficult decision was taken recently and was made in light of the quickly deteriorating operating environment facing the global auto industry," Fukui said.

"Honda must protect its core business activities and secure the long term as widespread uncertainties in the economics around the globe continue to mount.

"We will enter into consultation with associates of Honda Racing F1 and its engine supplier Honda Racing Development regarding the future of the two companies. This will include offering the team for sale."

Fukui, who told Reuters this year that he would "spend a trillion yen" if he could to make Honda a Formula One winner, said there would be no speedy return to the sport.

"At this stage we have no plans to return to F1. We have no plans to supply engines to other teams," he said. "We do not want to be half in and half out of the sport."

Honda would in any case have little time to find a buyer with the 2009 season starting in Australia on March 29.

"We would love to be able to continue in Formula One but we're simply not able to in the current financial climate," Fukui said.

"At testing in Barcelona last month we were still positive about racing in F1 next season.

"But we have to use our resources sensibly. As far as potential buyers go, our criterion would be that they continue to employ the hundreds of engineers who work for the Honda team."

Honda, like all of its rivals suffering from a sharp fall in global car sales, saw its sales in the United States, its biggest market, slump 32 percent last month.

"Pulling out of F1 will have a big impact in terms of cutting overall costs," said Fukui. "The most important thing for Honda is to see where we are in the next three to five years."

With Formula One's power-brokers desperately seeking cost-cutting measures to ensure its own survival, Honda's departure will have serious implications for the glamour sport.

It also leaves Britain's Jenson Button without a drive for 2009, although some teams have yet to confirm their lineups.

Brazilian Bruno Senna, the 25-year-old nephew of the late triple world champion Ayrton, had also been tipped to take the place of compatriot Rubens Barrichello at Honda next season.

Honda's exit leaves the multi-billion dollar sport facing a depleted grid of 18 cars if no buyer can be found in the extremely tight time-frame available.

It will also prompt fears that other major manufacturers, with their factory production suspended and thousands of staff laid off, could follow Honda's example.

Honda and Toyota Motor Corp have been the big spenders in Formula One in recent years.

Ross Brawn, the former Ferrari technical director who won multiple world championships with Michael Schumacher, was hired to run the Honda team at the end of last year.

Despite its huge resources, Honda had a dismal 2008 season and was pinning its hopes on next year's new rules levelling the playing field.

Button, a winner for Honda in Hungary in 2006, scored just three points and Barrichello took 11. The team finished ninth overall.

Honda's best finish in the constructors' championship was fourth, in 1967 and 2006, although they powered McLaren and Williams to a string of titles in the 1980s and 1990s.

The last team to leave Formula One was Honda-backed Super Aguri, the tail-enders who folded for financial reasons in April.

The sport's governing body said on Friday that Cosworth would provide Formula One teams with a low-cost engine option from 2010.

FIA president Max Mosley said the body was in exclusive negotiations with Cosworth, Xtrac and Ricardo Transmissions (XR) to provide a complete powertrain (engine and gearbox).

"We can get the cost down from the current £200 million ($293.4 million) plus [per team] down to about £30 million at which point the income from television and the income from sponsors covers it and you don't need these huge subsidies from the car industry," Mosley said.

Reuters

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  1. ronthedog talks complete garbage! Once again it falls­ to Bill Mac and ginger_gitt to bring some sense to the­ party.
    F1 is not about making a car go round a circuit­ as fast as you can, it's about making a car go­ round a circuit as fast as you can to a given formula­ (restrictions). When that starts to become so expensive­ as to damage the game, you have to change the formula.­ Simple, it's called survival. Adapting to the­ environment. Whatever happens it will probably be a­ welcome change and we'll all wonder what the fuss­ was about.

    Could all those dripping taps who keep­ gushing out that drivel about MacLaren and Hamilton­ cheating just shut up now. Those of us who are not­ stupid enough to believe all that nonsense are getting­ very tired of it and it just undermines anything else­ you have to say!

    From Biffo, on Sun 7 Dec 12:48AM

  2. To those who missed it I­ said:

    ------------------------------------------------­ ----------------------

    Honda need a buyer?

    Cosworth­ want back into F1.

    Prodrive want into F1.

    Head of­ Prodrive is David Richards.

    David Richards has alot of­ experience in F1.

    David Richards and Prodrive are also­ partners in Aston Martin.

    Aston Martin also have­ billionaire backers from the Middle East.

    The Middle­ East is quite keen on F1.

    Ross Brawn is already at­ the centre of Honda.

    Honda also have British driver­ Jenson Button.

    Jenson Button is really quite­ good.

    Gary Paffett is also quite good.

    Anthony­ Davidson is a proven test­ driver.

    ----------------------------------------------­ ---------------------

    My 2009 dream. A Ross Brawn led­ Aston Martin Cosworth F1 team with Jenson Button behind­ the wheel alongside Gary Paffett, with Anthony Davidson­ in the wings. British Racing Green on the grid anyone?­ Aston Martin vs Ferrari in­ F1!!!!

    -----------------------------------------------­ ---------------------

    To those saying it'll never­ happen, I point out it is my dream outcome for this­ scenario and not a serious option.

    To those claiming­ that Ford own Aston Martin, you are wrong. Ford­ haven't owned Aston Mastin since March­ 2007.

    mouronroute actually got very close to the truth­ again. Aston Martin is indeed owned by a consortium­ fronted by David Richards, the consortium including­ Investment Dar, Adeem Investment and John Sinders. ­ However he seems to have edited again to support his­ argument. Ford retained a $77m stakes in a $925m­ brand/business, giving them ownership of about 8% of­ the company. They do not have any planse to sell this­ stake.

    From ginger_gitt, on Sun 7 Dec 12:13AM

  3. ronthedog: strange article.
    Starts with the marnio-like­ diatribe against maclaren informing us that they got­ info valid for 5 years. Anyone knows that maclaren­ basically stole nothing from ferrari and I suspect that­ renault got more than maclaren from the whole affair.­ But also it was the reason why Honda are saying goodbye­ to F1. I don't think even honda would stoop to­ using such a weak excuse, do you?
    The we are told that­ any type of vehicle from turbocharged petrol to­ electric cars should be allowed to race together. Like­ having a porsche 917 mod30 racing a milkfloat, yup that­ will bring them in.

    From BigBill, on Sat 6 Dec 11:48PM

  4. Ron the dog.

    Your wish that McLaren and Hamilton be­ banned for 5 years would kill the sport­ completely!

    Don't be an idiot!

    From Scottish C, on Sat 6 Dec 10:34PM

  5. ALL F1 racing must be halted immediately
    The money­ they squander is deplorable -- unacceptable

    From kontrol.climate, on Sat 6 Dec 9:59PM

  6. WELL DONE HONDA TO FACE REALITY

    LETS HOPE WE SEE­ SEVERAL OTHER SENSIBLE TEAMS FOLLOW THEIR EXAMPLE FAST ­ .,., FAST

    From raymonda222, on Sat 6 Dec 9:50PM

  7. What cr@p.

    From Count Louis Zborowski, on Sat 6 Dec 9:31PM

  8. i'm sure that part of the reason honda are no­ longer prepared to spend what it takes to compete in­ formula one is that they feel they're wasting their­ time when the sly, snide, sneaky, slimeballs dennis and­ hamilton are allowed to get away with persistent­ cheating. what they learned from the papers stolen from­ ferrari still informs their own research, effectively­ giving them two sets of knowledge. mclaren should have­ been thrown out of f1 for a minimum of five years until­ their ill-gotten information was much more irrelevant.
    ­ the idea of saving money by using the same drivetrain­ is a huge error. next news the year after there'll­ be a supplied chassis and body to save on suspension­ and aerodynamic development costs, and an­ electronics/hydraulics package to save some more, and­ everyone will have identical cars. well if you're­ going to have identical cars they might as well be­ second-hand 2cvs, when was the last time you went into­ work on a monday and everyone was talking about a1? the­ whole point of formula one is that it is the pinnacle­ of track-based motorsport, equalled in stature only by­ wrc, and should be expensive if it's being done­ right. and albeit for diferent reasons, wrc has never­ recovered it's standing in the consciousness of the­ wider, non-petrolhead public since group b was­ abolished.
    the future health of f1 should lie in the­ strength of it's engineering, and the option to use­ different solutions should be available, so that­ normally aspirated, turbo- and supercharged, petrol,­ diesel and electric powered two or four wheel drive­ cars can race against each other. weight,­ engine-capacity and fuel tank equivalences to be worked­ into the rules as deemed necessary. the greatest­ attraction of f1 is the idea that these cars are­ lapping tracks as quickly as current technology will­ allow, and the drivers' skills are being tested to­ the limit. take away that premise and you may as well­ be watching any bunch of cars go round. good, but not­ the best.

    From ronthedog, on Sat 6 Dec 8:45PM

  9. hello my little f1 bum chums it marion here from peru.­
    mr hamiltons son say he stay with mclaren men for­ life. that nice for him but what do mclaren men say?­ you see mclaren is now german owned. the parent company­ is the mercedes benz which is the german. the engine is­ the german engine. everything about the team is the­ german. mr hamiltons son now the swiss gentleman he eat­ much cheese and sings in the morning at mountains. mr­ hamiltons father is also now the swiss man. in fact­ there nothing british about this team at all. even the­ man who tidy up the garage after the race has moved to­ switzerland with his mother. switzerland is owned by­ the german. my friends the whole team is GERMAN - and­ guess what - so is mr glock. now you see why the time­ stand still for mr glock on the last lap. like he in­ the time warp. not even the people abducted by the­ alien lose the amount of time he lost on that last lap.­ IT IS A DISGRACE!!!

    From , on Sat 6 Dec 7:57PM

  10. We cannot condemn the Honda boardroom thinking to­ retreat from F1 taking into consideration the­ mathmatics of their redundant yet competitive car­ business in the difficult economic climate.
    Like many I­ hope that this reversal of fortunes will not have the­ head-on effect of losing more money in the motor­ industry assembly lines and showrooms rather than­ losing this great opportunity to speculate.
    For Sir­ Richard Branson this is the ultimate PR exercise­ sitting on a plate better than crossing the pond or­ flying a party-popper over Iran.
    No better publicity­ than to lubricate a Virgin Team.

    From memorymantom, on Sat 6 Dec 5:44PM

  11. After more tripe I think Marino from Peru must lead a­ very lonly life and need to get out more.

    From P L, on Sat 6 Dec 4:22PM

  12. No. 38 I will be writing to Santa.Maybe, just maybe, it­ would make interesting racing.

    From P L, on Sat 6 Dec 4:20PM

  13. Welcome back Eddie Jordan... oh wait, Max Mosely would­ never allow it. Frankly, after the deplorable way in­ which the FIA, (Ferrari Is Almighty) screwed McLaren­ over last year and this, I frankly have lost all­ interest in the procedings. Bring on an alternative­ series without Messrs Ecclestone and Mosely.

    From Jayne, on Sat 6 Dec 6:10AM

  14. Who will be next to pull the plug?.
    For sure, Honda­ will not be the only team to go.

    From USA 1, on Sat 6 Dec 4:55AM

  15. HAMILTON JR JR, FORMULA H20 WORLD DRIVING CHAMP 3000

    From d.knight1978, on Sat 6 Dec 4:38AM

  16. HYDROGEN/SPEEDRACER/STARWARS EPISODE 1/LEWIS­ HAMILTON-CRASH,BANG WALLOP

    From d.knight1978, on Sat 6 Dec 4:33AM

  17. why don't the engine builders get together and come­ up with a decent idea for the future of the sport,­ (hydrogen power etc), then the aerodynamic designers­ can be further inspired to create new shapes etc, this­ is what we truely want to see...then any dude can seem­ fast in something new and exciting, enter the drvers/­ e.g Button, hammy etc and we're onto something big­ again- could'nt u build a vehicle thats exciting to­ watch on t.v thats real fast with all the passion of­ what f1 was like in the 60/70's and still have some­ change from the rediculous minimum bugets that prat­ mouldy mosley is suggesting (f1)- screw f1, whats we­ go into the 2000's and do f10, the future of motor­ sport where it would be a new true sporting spectacle­ rather than this fiesty re-hash of 1970's­ cigarettes and sideburns. Mclaren have the silver­ sports wear jackets (futuristic!, yeah)- invent the­ rest of it please- Watch "Speed-Racer"

    From d.knight1978, on Sat 6 Dec 4:25AM

  18. Honda had no sponsorship, so they were fronting the­ total bill themselves. Had they been smart and got­ sponsor money, they'd have been better off.

    From superjohn_rtp, on Sat 6 Dec 3:21AM

  19. i say why throw good money at bad honda were @#$% if i­ owned the company i rearly dont think i would have­ fronted the cash for a third season never mind 6-7­ years + forget f1 make another accord or prelude

    From crazy_couple, on Sat 6 Dec 3:01AM

  20. yes watever so bored nite nite

    From normancleveland, on Sat 6 Dec 3:01AM
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