Brawn GP takes Honda F1’s place on the 2009 F1 grid

[ric.rios]

Of 'O Globo', from Brazil(translated by Google )

The crisis comes to the circus world of Formula 1 and made his first victim. The Honda will announce this morning (1:30 a.m. the afternoon of Friday, in Tokyo, midnight and half the time of Brasilia), which is leaving the category.

Succumbs to the bumps of the globalized economy and let the orphan team that receive fuel and sponsorship of Petrobras in 2009 and was about to hire as the Brazilian driver Bruno Senna. The Honda invested every year about $ 400 million in F-1. The output of the Japanese company, Petrobras desobriga to fulfill the contract.

The team had planned tests, which must be canceled for the next day (from 8 to 11), the circuit of Jerez de la Frontera, where the Brazilians were in action Bruno Senna and Rubens Barrichello. Another Brazilian, Lucas Di Grassi, tested with Escuder, recently in Barcelona. With the news, everyone was walking.

The team can still be bought for some eccentric millionaire (such as that we recently acquired the Force India) but, of course, will have no more

Japanese engines nor his (until then) powerful investment.

The output of the Honda makes the "circus" of F-1 of hair on foot. And already there are even those who speculate that the next to jump out to be Toyota, strictly, for the same reason - now added to the fact that it no longer needs to compete with its larger rival. Honda and Toyota has its largest markets in the U.S., where sales of cars already suffer severe consequences of the crisis.

Original text: http://oglobo.globo.com/esportes/f12008 ... 840457.asp

[shailf1]

what???

[ric.rios]

Today, the brazilian press expert in F1 are talking just about this case. And some international sites too:
http://www.grandprix.com/ns/ns21017.html
http://www.grandprix.com/ns/ns21016.html

[shailf1]

oh, so much about 2009 and this is what they come out with!!

[phil1993]

Its all rumours, but it is surprising

[swca92]

I think this is true.Don't know why,but I've got a gut feeling here this could well be true.Honda may well have thought they've out in lots of money for little gain,and with the financial crisis F1 is too expensive.Also F1 ruins their environmental image,whatever livery they have.But I think they'll find a buyer,they've got everything in place for success.A super rich billionaire,or even another car manufacturer may buy the team.

[blizzard]

Well, I would be very very disappointed, if one victory by Jenson Button in 2006 was all Honda could achieve. 2007 and 2008 were c**p, I don´t think it would be the right way to leave F1 with such weak results "in the pocket".

If they don´t want to run an own team anymore, they could go back to just supplying engines, they were quite succesful with that and I think Toro R$osso or Red Bull would welcome that.

[phil1993]

The Earth scheme thing crippled them a lot - the livery was c**p, and it lost them a few tenths according to Nick fry cos of the weight of it (i think?) and the loss of sponsor money

[ric.rios]

From Autosport:

Formula One is bracing itself for an announcement by the Honda Racing team on Friday morning that could pave the way for one of grand prix racing's biggest names to exit the sport.

Amid the worldwide financial downturn and the impact that has had on Honda's car sales, it is understood that the Brackley-based team's future is now in serious doubt.

Insiders have told autosport.com that the team's senior staff were called for a meeting at the factory on Thursday afternoon and informed that Honda in Japan were no longer willing to bankroll the outfit.

It is suggested that the team will be put up for sale - and if no buyer is found by March then the manufacturer will simply pull the plug and withdraw from the sport.

Amid the current financial climate, it is unclear where Honda Racing would hope to find a buyer willing to support a Formula One team - with budgets already in excess of £100 million per year.

There are suggestions, however, that Honda may be willing to offload the team free of charge to anyone willing to support it - and they could even continue to supply engines for a period of time until another technical partner is found.

However, sources have suggested that team principal Ross Brawn is already eyeing a tie-up with Ferrari for power-units should a buyer be found - with the Italian manufacturer having spare capacity now after ending their deal with Force India.

It is understood that Brawn and F1 CEO Nick Fry are scheduled to fly to meetings in Tokyo on Monday to discuss the future of the team with Japanese bosses - and especially define what happens if no buyer is found.

Honda Racing remained silent about the speculation on Thursday evening, with neither press officers nor senior team personnel available for comment. It is understood the staff informed of the decision were told not to discuss the matter prior to an official announcement being made.

It is expected Honda will issue a press release early on Friday morning revealing their plans. It comes after a challenging year for the team, which had begun a rebuilding process under the leadership of Brawn.

Any pullout by Honda Racing will send shockwaves through F1, and cast question marks over the future of other manufacturers' longterm participation. It would also come several months after FIA president Max Mosley warned that the sport was unsustainable at the moment because of the high costs needed to compete.

It would also mean the grid being reduced to just 18 cars, and would leave drivers Jenson Button and Rubens Barrichello without seats.

Link: http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/72319

[AzShadow]

It just shows how expensive F1 is nowadays and soon there'll be only a few teams left and they'll probably have to supply cars to the others. This is exactly what McLaren's and Force India's cooperation was about. There was no way Force India could have survived without such assistance. We lost Super Aguri, now Honda is now about to leave, Toro Rosso's future is insecure... there aren't many teams left soon at this rate, eh?

[shailf1]

i believe its true. BBC are telling about it.

[swca92]

This is REALLY BAD NEWS.If Honda decide they've had enough,won't other manufacturers think the same way? This news must be sudden,there's been no news of this till today.I hope they get bought as Jenson,Brawn and Fry can form a successful team together,and I'd feel real sad if Jenson's career was over and was one of them sad sports stories.If I was him I'd try and go to STR or Force-India,and forget Honda.I'm shocked by this,and devastated.And the worse thing is it will encourage things like standard engines,standardised aerodynamics etc which will ruin the sport.

[Fergie1]

TBH, I personally think its a case of using the credit crunch as an excuse. F1 has done virtually nothing for them since they become Honda (rather than BAR Honda) apart from 1 win and a few podiums.#
They will probably get bought as unlike Super Aguri they arent up to their knees in debt.

[shailf1]

This may be it for Rubens then.

[swca92]

But Honda are very expensive,it'll take,by my rough estimate,about 200 million to buy out the team,as they have 650 employees,the big salaries and the chassis/engine programs ongoing.Also I'd guess a couple of hundred employees will be made redundant,which won't help in the current climate