Ecclestone: Buyers interested in Honda

Eurosport - Sun, 07 Dec 15:44:00 2008

Formula One supremo Bernie Ecclestone has claimed several parties have shown interest in buying the Honda team, after their withdrawal from the sport due to financial reasons.

FORMULA 1 - Bernie Ecclestone, F1 bigwig - 0

"I think it's okay. I think there's a number of people out there that have shown a lot of interest," Ecclestone told Sky News.

Ecclestone, saying he knew of two separate enquiries, added that Honda's withdrawal was a wake-up call for the sport.

"Both Max [FIA head Mosley] and myself have been campaigning now for quite a long time to try to reduce the necessity to spend vast amounts of money to be competitive," he said.

"What we are trying to say to the engineers is 'do all these things, come up with the ideas but try to remember the cost'.

"When you consider that Honda have got 700 people working there to put two cars on the starting grid, it's a little bit cranky to be honest with you."

The head of Honda's Formula One team Nick Fry said he was hopeful a buyer would step in.

"We've had two or three global players contact us already who are interested in a top level team... I think there's good reason for hope for the future," he said.

"Formula One is up there with the Olympics and the World Cup in terms of global popularity and that's why there are so many huge companies involved because it is a global stage where they can present their products."

Fry recognised, however, that times were tough for the sport. "We've got to find a way of seeing ourselves through the next couple of years," he said.

"I sat with all the other team owners yesterday and we reduced the budgets for next year potentially by 50 million euros (£43.3 million), by cutting back developing, cutting back testing."

Fry said his team were well-placed for an improved performance next year and it would be a "massive disappointment" if they were not on the start line for the first race of the new season in Australia in March.

"We are very close. This year we really didn't work that hard on our car because we knew we had to invest next year and we wanted a top-line Ross Brawn-developed car for Jenson [Button] next year," he said.

"If that doesn't happen, that would be devastating for everyone involved but at this stage we are assuming it is going to happen."

Mosley said there would be plenty of potential buyers but only if the cost of competing could be controlled.

"We must get the costs down to the point where a potential purchaser can see that he can run the team without having to subsidise it with huge sums of money and then there has to be a source of an engine," he said.

"All of those conditions can be satisfied so I'm optimistic that it can be solved though I think it's by no means certain."

Former team boss Eddie Jordan was also confident there would be a buyer for the Northamptonshire-based team.

"I do believe that Honda will be snapped up," he said. "It's too good, it's a jewel in the crown.

"I think you have the basis of something that can be bought at a very, very discounted price for a huge advantage.

"These are the best facilities that you can ever imagine and to lose that to Formula One would be catastrophic."

Reuters

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  1. 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 11:57AM

  2. mclaren are cheats along with hamilton No 1 will ever­ take them too seriosly, they tarnish the name of F1 un­ repairable now my hoes THE NAME OF F1 TOO TARNISHED it­ is a joke...

    From , on Sat 6 Dec 11:33AM

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    PREMIER LEAGUE – FA CUP – CARLING­ CUP
    CHAMPIONS LEAGUE – UEFA CUP
    ALL MATCHES ON WEB: ­ PREMIER LEAGUE, LIGA, SERIE A, BUNDESLIGA AND CHAMPIONS­ LEAGUE - UEFA CUP
    ALL THE HIGH-LIGHTS OF PREMIER­ LEAGUE MATCHES

    From , on Sat 6 Dec 11:23AM

  4. Don't waste time on Marnio.
    He's a wind-up and­ he's not Peruvian.

    From Count Louis Zborowski, on Sat 6 Dec 10:54AM

  5. When Ecclestone says to cut costs does that also mean­ he will try and not make huge amounts of money from the­ sport? Will he try and cut HIS costs and lead by­ example??

    From r.j.hall, on Sat 6 Dec 9:28AM

  6. honda is smart, as the saying goes " never spend­ more than what you make"
    so honda is cutting loose­ the "luxury" brand and high performance­ racing. if they can save now, and go through with this,­ in the future they will be in a much better position to­ re- enter the sport, and hopefully present a serious­ car that can bring out the true value of the Honda­ brand.

    btw dont assume right of the bat that i'ma­ Honda fan :)

    From baby_shambles, on Sat 6 Dec 6:37AM

  7. Bring Tata Motors India with their Jaguar engines in­ F1:) hahahah
    Hear that Vijay Mallya, u and ur Force­ India Team could have used the finest and superior­ Indian engineering technologies.. not to mention­ CHEAP...... may be Bernie n Max will look into it­ too.... low-cost-standard engine+transmission n medal­ system, eh..... LOL

    From fakkall, on Sat 6 Dec 6:35AM

  8. bring VOLKS wagon in F1!

    From Araw, on Sat 6 Dec 5:29AM

  9. It's so sad to see a great car company pull out of­ a the premier motor sport but I can see the logic, you­ have protect your workforce in times of trouble and­ make economies where you have to. I hope to see them­ back before too long. Well done Honda it's a shame­ the U.K car industries didn't think the same way­ and we may have still had an auto industry.

    From GrahamC, on Sat 6 Dec 5:16AM

  10. I have read some absolute idiots on some of these­ pages, but this @#$% Marino from Peru is the tops.­ Mercedes engines are made in the UK by Ilmor Engines in­ Brixworth. So before you open you mouth , you Inca­ idiot get your facts right

    From martin, on Sat 6 Dec 4:45AM

  11. Some emotive stuff here from those who support this­ multi million dollar game. It is not a sport-no way.­ Just strap some nutter in a machine that looks­ something like a car and see how he goes. Can you not­ see that old men have been ripping you all off for­ years. So far as I am concerned this can stay off the­ screens. If Hamilton is declared Sports Personality of­ the Year it will be a travesty. The swimmer should win­ hands down. If not you might as well give it to that­ other personality Murray

    From taff, on Fri 5 Dec 11:31PM

  12. I suggest they just declare an F1 Holiday for the­ entire 2009, and come back in 2010.

    From Roland Zack, on Fri 5 Dec 11:18PM

  13. Bernie and Max, you've been ripping, F1 off the for­ years, so this could be a good time, to put something­ back, into the sport. Why don't you buy Honda. ­ And then we could have a good laugh, watching you­ practice what you preach. At least the Formula One fan­ will get something back, in entertainment value on its­ own. You could put a picture, of Max's @#$% at the­ back, and the picture at Bernie's face at the­ front, as there are not many people, that would take­ great pleasure, to punch Bernie on the nose, and kicked­ Mosley's @#$%.

    From paul t, on Fri 5 Dec 11:07PM

  14. Amongst much wailing and gnashing of teeth, the F1­ purists are going to have to accept the inevitable.­ Even to those people who have their heads firmly buried­ in the sand, the reality is that the top teams spending­ gazillions to win is going to stop. More 'kit­ cars' and stock engines filling the grids will be­ the norm. If you don't like the spectacle any­ longer, no-one is forcing you to watch it. For my­ money, the racing will be a lot better than it has been­ for the last 20 years or so.

    From , on Fri 5 Dec 10:31PM

  15. If we are lucky "formula bore" is about to­ dissapear up it's own exhaust pipe! Along with the­ self-abusers who"run" motorsport. Panic not,­ when the tossers depart, the real drivers and engineers­ will ressurect motor racing proper.

    From Roy M, on Fri 5 Dec 10:26PM

  16. you don't quite see the picture. the costs are not­ driven by the big teams. it's the way the rules­ always change to "increase" overtaking.­ mosely and ecclestone are analog watches in a digital­ world. they should realize their limitations and let­ the true competitors establish a set of rules that­ enables them to save money. you can't get an­ armchair expert to propose a rule that COULD MAYBE­ increase overtaking. let the teams find a solution­ between themselfs. all this talk about standard engine­ makes me sick. it's formula 1. let them innovate.­ but no, standard engine, standard gearboxes, and many­ other useless inventions that resulted from a brain­ fart of one of the FIA members. it's pointless to­ discuss about changing the rules without talking first­ hand with the teams. everybody wants to have a word.­ it's stupid. they should grow up. bernie should go­ and screw himself. give more money to the teams from­ advertisement, and max should get a @#$% and forget­ about F1

    From mirciu, on Fri 5 Dec 9:29PM

  17. Marion: The engine (Ilmor engineering) and essentially­ most of the car is British. Mercedes did buy in, of­ course, but unlike something like a Mclaren SLR where­ the engine indeed came from Afalterbach in Germany, the­ F1 car is chiefly British. What do you mean by the­ Swiss being owned by the Germans, and all this Swiss­ stuff anyway?? What are you smoking babe? Anyway, what­ is going to happen now to F1? The whole thing strikes­ me as lop sided with utopian monies being thrown in all­ directions, demands from track owners now so high that­ they will go bankrupt (Hockenheim is getting out) etc.­ And then this single source engine supply cr&p,­ what is THAT all about(?), then medals instead of­ points (did I get that right?). Seems like F1 is doomed­ and basically just a joke, an expensive one. What a­ fiasco.

    From forbiddentechnology, on Fri 5 Dec 8:11PM

  18. Bernie & Max could have a whip round and buy it­ themselves. Max loves a good whip round.

    From GEORGE, on Fri 5 Dec 8:02PM

  19. ha ha ha Jensen Buttons will ended up test driver good­ he is jealous of Hamilton He suppost be stand by his­ fellow country man but he didn't what goes aroud­ comes around sacker Jensen.

    From joni, on Fri 5 Dec 7:58PM

  20. Jensen­ Who????????????????????????????????????????????????????­ ???????

    From r.l.milligan, on Fri 5 Dec 7:30PM
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