Honda Withdraws From Formula One

This is an update to:
Honda Races Against Time To Find A Buyer For Formula 1 Team Ahead Of 2009 Season

UPDATE: December 6, 2008 01:48 am

Honda Racing CEO Nick Fry is optimistic that a new owner will be found for the team following Friday’s announcement that parent company Honda are withdrawing from Formula One racing.

The Japanese car giant has put the team up for sale and Fry and other senior management are now in a race against time to find a buyer ahead of the 2009 season. However, he says they have already received several serious enquiries.

“In the last 12 hours we’ve had three serious people come and suggest they’d like to buy the team,” Fry said. “We’re one of the best-funded teams and have the best assets and resources in the pit lane - we’ll be quite a desirable asset for somebody.”

“Both Max [FIA head Mosley] and myself [Bernie Ecclestone] have been campaigning now for quite a long time to try to reduce the necessity to spend vast amounts of money to be competitive,” he said.

“When you consider that Honda have got 700 people working there to put two cars on the starting grid, it’s a little bit cranky to be honest with you.”

Mosley said there would be plenty of potential buyers but only if the cost of competing could be controlled.

“We must get the costs down to the point where a potential purchaser can see that he can run the team without having to subsidise it with huge sums of money and then there has to be a source of an engine,” he said.

“All of those conditions can be satisfied so I’m optimistic that it can be solved though I think it’s by no means certain.”

Former team boss Eddie Jordan was also confident there would be a buyer for the Northamptonshire-based team.

“I do believe that Honda will be snapped up,” he said. “It’s too good, it’s a jewel in the crown.”

Read more on this:

Honda Withdraws From Formula One

Honda’s F1 Departure Could Shock Global Motorsport

Honda Will Still Compete In Superbike

F1 Boss Bernie Ecclestone Called Honda’s Exit A “Wake-Up Call” For The Sport

UPDATE: December 6, 2008 06:48 am

The Japanese motor company Honda shocked the sports world with its announcement it is withdrawing from Formula One racing series. However, fans of Formula One’s two wheeled counterpart will be happy to know the company’s recent decision doesn’t affect its participation in the motorcycle racing series of Superbike.

Takeo Fukui, president and chief executive of Honda Motor Co. Ltd., blamed the “quickly deteriorating operating environment facing the global auto industry, brought on by the subprime problem in the United States, the deepening credit crisis and the sudden contraction of the world economies.”

The sudden withdrawal of Honda on the Formula One arena had many wondering which other sports would be affected next, either by further action from the Japanese car manufacturer or from other valued sponsors.

Read more on this:

Honda Withdraws From Formula One

Honda’s F1 Departure Could Shock Global Motorsport

Honda Races Against Time To Find A Buyer For Formula 1 Team Ahead Of 2009 Season

F1 Boss Bernie Ecclestone Called Honda’s Exit A “Wake-Up Call” For The Sport

UPDATE: December 6, 2008 07:08 am

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.”

Read more on this:

Honda Withdraws From Formula One

Honda’s F1 Departure Could Shock Global Motorsport

Honda Races Against Time To Find A Buyer For Formula 1 Team Ahead Of 2009 Season

Honda Will Still Compete In Superbike

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