Honda to pull out of F1?

[Shug]

If you're into that era, check out an old book about Williams - "Racers". Was printed in '80 or '81 and goes into great detail about the struggling years and catches them just as they began their dominant period. Really insightful and very much 'warts & all'.

[jason]

The first domino falls...

I'd put money on Toyota next. It's the risk Bernie took when nuzzling up to the car industry to bankroll F1 - when it goes pear-shaped, they're bound to disappear. Easy way to reclaim $500-$800 mil on the balance sheet...

Who'll end up coming out of this smiling? Williams and (to an extent) McLaren - possibly Red Bull. McLaren will have to get out of the Merc merger, but at least they are not wholly owned but them. Has to be said Frank Williams, despite some lean years, looks as canny as ever in the face of this development.

Indeed. I think we all knew this would happen one day. Any team that is effectively the R&D or marketing division of a road car manufacturer (perhaps even a fizzy drinks company!) is vulnerable in this way ...any team that does not exist solely for racing. Even McLaren are financially vulnerable with their Mercedes partnership (though racing is McLarens raison d'etre at least).

F1 in times past may not have been as glamorous or big-bucks stylee when looking back, compared to the over-slick Berniethon it has become in the last decade or so, but the racing wasn't any poorer for it and the sport was more accessible to smaller operations... even if some were permanent back-markers!

Always been a fan of Williams since the days of Alan Jones and, like you say, Frank's looking good now as the sole 'Garagista' (Force India no longer truely independent) My hope is these teams are bought up by racers rather than more marketing divisions.