This is an update to:
Honda Withdraws From Formula One
The Japanese car manufacturer quit F1 on Friday, saying that in the current economic downturn it needs to focus on its core business of making and selling cars rather than spending $291 million a year to race them on Grand Prix tracks.
In three seasons, and with such massive investment, Honda managed just one race victory.
Toyota, Japan’s biggest car manufacturer, which has seen an even poorer return on its F1 investment without a victory in seven years, said it remains committed to the circuit.
“If we don’t cut costs we would lose one team after another and we would end up with no teams at all,” FIA president Max Mosley said on Friday. “If the teams don’t notice now what’s happened, you have to abandon all hope.”
But the withdrawal of Japan’s second-largest car manufacturer shows “how important is to reduce costs, which we have been calling for since five years (ago),” McLaren-Mercedes vice president Norbert Haug said. “Our Formula One commitment is based on solid financial foundations.”
Japanese team Super Aguri, which was backed by Honda, pulled out of F1 earlier this year.
That leaves Williams and Toyota looking vulnerable at a time when solid financial backing is a must.
British team Williams is the last true independent team, but has been beset by financial difficulties, with big losses last year.
Honda’s exit bolsters Mosley’s argument that the sport must become greener and more affordable if it is to have a viable future.
“We have to get the costs down so that you can run on the money you get from Formula One Management and minimal sponsorship,” Mosley said. “At the moment, it’s difficult and if it starts to get down to 14 cars or fewer, you’ve got a serious problem.”
Mosley wants to introduce a common engine and do away with the large sums being invested in aerodynamics, lightweight components, sophisticated gearboxes and wind tunnel testing - calling them “a total waste of time.”
F1 boss Bernie Ecclestone backs Mosley and called Honda’s exit a “wake-up call” for the sport to start engaging with its fans again.
“The average guy in the street doesn’t care how many cylinders the car has, doesn’t know, or what the capacity of the engine is, doesn’t care,” Ecclestone said. “We are in the business of entertainment and we should be building race cars to race.”
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