Rate it!

7 votes

Mexican Carlos Slim has become the latest person to express an interest in buying out the Honda Motor Company, in a bid to save the Honda Formula One team.

Slim, who controls the telecommunications company Telmex and is currently placed as the second richest man in the world, flew into the team's UK headquarters.

"His helicopter was too big for the heliport so they had to clear the car park for it to land," a Honda source is quoted as saying in The Sun newspaper.

"But his crest was on the side of it so everyone knew who it was."

Prodrive's David Richards, who has formerly run the Benetton and BAR teams, has already shown his interest in buying the team by travelling to the Middle East for talks with investors in the team.

It is also reported that Force India's Vijay Mallya has expressed an interest, as has Swiss hedge fund and Greek shipping tycoon Achilleas Kallakis.

"A lot of people at the factory are worried about Richards or Mallya taking over," the Sun quotes the Honda source as saying.

"People think Mallya will just cherry-pick the best bits for Force India. And how can Richards say he wants to take over the team when he is asking the government for money for his Aston Martin company."

Work at the Brackley-based factory has continued despite the team pulling out of Formula One last month, with the plan to be ready for the Melbourne Grand Prix should a buyer be found in time.

"We have had a high level of interest in the team since Honda announced their withdrawal from Formula One," team chief executive Nick Fry said.

"Work on the build of our 2009 car continues to ensure our objective of being on the grid at Melbourne in March will be achieved."

Eurosport