Honda to pull out of F1?

bertieduff · Post by **bertieduff** » Thu Dec 04, 2008 7:55 pm

Another victim of the credit crunch?

According to the news tonight Honda are 're-assessing their involvement with Formula 1, due to the current financial climate'

Doesn't bode well for the rest if they can't afford it....

tut · Post by **tut** » Thu Dec 04, 2008 8:08 pm

Agreed, but they were very much also rans this year.

They really do need to get a competitive car/driver package together if they are going to try to live with the front runners next year.

tut

kenny · Post by **kenny** » Thu Dec 04, 2008 8:13 pm

Convenient excuse more like.

steve_weegie · Post by **steve_weegie** » Thu Dec 04, 2008 8:19 pm

I think the 2009 season will make or break honda, with ross brawn apparently dedicating most of last seasons resources to developing the 2009 car.

tut · Post by **tut** » Thu Dec 04, 2008 8:21 pm

Sad thing is, tis more that they can not hack it, as can not afford it.

tut

kenny · Post by **kenny** » Thu Dec 04, 2008 9:54 pm

Looks like it may happen very soon.

Sky news

Digital · Post by **Digital** » Thu Dec 04, 2008 10:38 pm

Always had a soft spot for Honda (the company rather than the F1 team especially), had been looking forward to seeing what Senna could do against Button next year...

Wonder if Honda are happy now about the large sum they threw Williams' way for the privilege of retaining Button a few years ago, sure that cash would come in handy now!

Autosport wrote: There are suggestions, however, that Honda may be willing to offload the team free of charge to anyone willing to support it

Team SE in F1 anyone?

kenny · Post by **kenny** » Thu Dec 04, 2008 10:56 pm

Digital wrote:Team SE in F1 anyone?

Oh ok then, baggsy Jensons role. Sure I can have the job of falling off the track regularly, finishing 15th and growing really awful pube-like facial hair sussed in no time.

Rory · Post by **Rory** » Thu Dec 04, 2008 11:39 pm

Think of Honda as the Northern Rock. Have a laugh at them for a while.

Then watch as the Bank of Scotland, RBS, Lehman, Goldman etc follow suit.

BMW dealers are offering 5 years free servicing "if only someone would buy our cars".
BMW finances are far weaker than Honda's
Daimler Benz are in even deeper doodoo.

Tis not a Honda only problem.
Tis nothing to do with not being able to hack it.

chrisdb · Post by **chrisdb** » Fri Dec 05, 2008 12:40 am

Heard on the radio that Honda F1 team employs 800+ people in UK, does this sound right? If so you can see why they are keen to get out, costs must be massive.

I don't think they can hack it - F1 'hacking it' = big spending so if they can't justify it, it seems a good time to pull out.

jason · Post by **jason** » Fri Dec 05, 2008 1:33 am

Not having any sponsors' income must hurt Honda F1....

Post by **Shug** » Fri Dec 05, 2008 9:50 am

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.

ryallm · Post by **ryallm** » Fri Dec 05, 2008 10:13 am

Jenson's chances of ever becoming world champion have just gone from slim to non-existent. Bit sad as he clearly has some talent, but his F1 career was already in deep trouble

Mark

Post by **Shug** » Fri Dec 05, 2008 10:15 am

Oh, and I don't think F1 will 'die' per se. It wasn't that long ago that you could enter F1 with a budget in the tens of thousands by buying an engine from Cosworth, gearbox from Hewland, go to Lola and have them build you a chassis... You could still rock up to Cosworth and buy a fully homologated engine - their last one is still eligible under the rules and the are still tooled for production and support of it. The scale will drop and rules changes will need to happen so people can go back to using last year's McLaren, or suchlike, but the racing won't necessarily change. I think it might actually bring F1 back to earth...

/Reading several books from late 70s F1 and wishing it was still like that at the mo faction

PS - yeah a shame for Jense - I actually like him. Shame he paid more attention to making money rather than getting into the right cars when he first got into the game, could have been very different for him by now.

ryallm · Post by **ryallm** » Fri Dec 05, 2008 10:23 am

Shug wrote:
/Reading several books from late 70s F1 and wishing it was still like that at the mo faction

Definitely with you there. When James Hunt was driving for Hesketh, the team was basically a bunch of hooray henrys who bought an off the shelf Cosworth DFV engine, hired a handful of talented engineers, and in no time at all ended up with a competitive car. If only a group of motivated 'have a go' privateers could do that these days.

Mark

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