No Mexican buyout for Honda

Eurosport - Sun, 28 Dec 18:15:00 2008

Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim has not bought the Honda Formula One team and is not even in negotiations for the Japanese outfit.

2008 Turkish GP Honda Barrichello - 0

"There is no deal for the Honda team. There is neither agreement nor negotiations," a source at the businessman's industrial and financial empire said on condition of anonymity.

Honda, with an annual racing budget of around £275 million, pulled out of the Formula One world championship earlier this month and was put up for sale with the Japanese manufacturer struggling in the current global economic slowdown.

Earlier reports, Slim's son had also told the Mexican media that reports of a deal to save Honda were also without foundation.

On Saturday, Italian newspaper La Stampa claimed that Slim, who they described as the world's second richest man, was poised to buy the Honda team.

"The saviour has arrived at the last minute: Carlos Slim, 67 years old, the second richest man in the world," said the newspaper.

"The news is not official as all the details have yet to be formalised. But two things are certain - the team has been saved and the drivers will be Jenson Button and rookie Bruno Senna in place of Rubens Barrichello."

La Stampa, which did not identify the source of its story, added that Senna, the nephew of former triple world champion Ayrton Senna, is sponsored by Embratel, part of Slim's Telmex group.

Honda first competed in F1 in 1964 and clocked up three Grand Prix wins, including Button's in Hungary in 2006.

Its engines were also behind dozens of victories by stars such as Nelson Piquet, Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost.

The team finished ninth in the constructors championship this season with 14 points.

Veteran driver Barrichello achieved the team's best result with a third-place finish at Silverstone.

Honda Motor also supplied engines and other technical support to Formula One team Super Aguri, which called it quits due to financial problems in May.

Motorsport in Japan had been particularly hit by the recession with Subaru and Suzuki pulling out of the world rally championship.

AFP

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  1. Well said TYGERZI, i couldn't have put it better­ myself.

    From Mark T, on Sun 28 Dec 9:14PM
  2. Once upon a time there was a sad little man from Peru.­ He was consumed by envy and spent all his time writing­ hateful things about a little English boy who was­ hardworking and brave. The little man from Peru even­ insulted the little English boy’s heritage until he­ decided to question his own.
    He found that modern day­ Peru owes its start to the Spanish conquest when­ Europeans and Africans came and mixed with the Incas­ who themselves had already mixed with other Andean­ tribes. Later there were influxes of Chinese and­ Japanese peoples. The interesting part is that the­ Spanish people themselves have African blood and they­ brought Africans with them.
    Now if the little English­ boy has genealogy that traces to the Caribbean and then­ Africa it is possible that the little man from Peru is­ related to the little English boy.

    The sad little man­ from Peru has only a donkey to ride while the little­ English boy has a shiny new car from his favourite­ uncle Ron. This makes the little man from Peru mad and­ he dreams up nasty stories about the Little English boy­ to tell his friends. The sad bit is that the little man­ from Peru has no friends.

    From TYGERZI, on Sun 28 Dec 7:37PM
  3. Once upon a time there was a sad little man from Peru.­ He was consumed by envy and spent all his time writing­ hateful things about a little English boy who was­ hardworking and brave. The little man from Peru even­ insulted the little English boy’s heritage until he­ decided to question his own.
    He found that modern day­ Peru owes its start to the Spanish conquest when­ Europeans and Africans came and mixed with the Incas­ who themselves had already mixed with other Andean­ tribes. Later there were influxes of Chinese and­ Japanese peoples. The interesting part is that the­ Spanish people themselves have African blood and they­ brought Africans with them.
    Now if the little English­ boy has genealogy that traces to the Caribbean and then­ Africa it is possible that the little man from Peru is­ related to the little English boy.

    The sad little man­ from Peru has only a donkey to ride while the little­ English boy has a shiny new car from his favourite­ uncle Ron. This makes the little man from Peru mad and­ he dreams up nasty stories about the Little English boy­ to tell his friends. The sad bit is that the little man­ from Peru has no friends.

    From TYGERZI, on Sun 28 Dec 7:35PM
  4. I will have a chat with my friends at Prodrive and find­ out what Richards is doing

    From TYGERZI, on Sun 28 Dec 7:33PM
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