Flamboyant Indian business tycoon Vijay Mallya is pitched against Mexican billionaire and one of the world’s richest persons, Carlos Slim Helu, among others for buying the Formula One team of Japanese auto giant Honda, a report said on Monday.
Honda Racing CEO Nick Fry says his team has already received interest from three potential buyers since its parent company declared it was withdrawing from Formula 1 on Friday morning.
Fry admitted that his team had struggled in recent years – having finished ninth in this year’s constructors’ championship and eighth the year before – but maintained it presented a great opportunity for someone wanting to invest in Formula 1.
A report said Carlos Slim, Force India’s Mallya and UK-based motorsport and auto engineering group Prodrive’s David Richards have emerged potential buyers. Other interested parties include a Swiss hedge fund and Greek shipping tycoon Achilleas Kallakis, it added.
Force India F1 motor racing team was formed last year after a consortium led by Mallya bought the Spyker F1 team for 88 million pounds. Noting that Prodrive’s Richards has “has travelled to the Middle East for talks with investors”, the report said that “another serious candidate is Carlos Slim, a Mexican billionaire, who is the second richest man in the world.”
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