Official F1/Motorsport thread

[VR46]

He can't afford a year out of F1, fear he'll never get back in, especially in a competitive seat - not that he was guaranteed one of those anyway.

All those hundreds of millions Honda have spent over the last few years, and for what

[Alastair]

Lets be honest here, there probably is a buyer interested in some shape or the other. Maybe they wont make it to the grid at the start of the season or they'll not complete the season but I imagine Button and Brawn will be with the same 'team' next year as they are now.

However, if there are only 18 cars on the grid there is mention in the Concorde agreement that teams will be balloted to run a third car to get numbers up to 20 at least. Maybe Jenson will get a seat as a third driver somewhere else on the grid.

[Duddyroar]

I'm sure that someone will come in - in fact Fry has said that he's had three interested buyers already. Seeing as Bernie is hell-bent on making sure only circuits that are operated by money-mad oil tycoons can afford to host races next season, I wouldn't be surprised is some middle-east oil baron comes in and buys the team. It's happened in football so why not F1?

Personally I'd like to see someone buy the team and resurrect the Tyrrell name. After all, that's what the team was originally called before it turned to BAR.

[Roddie]

But I also remember how many times Aguri Suzuki said that they were confident of finding a buyer for Super Aguri and that there was plenty of interest...

[Duddyroar]

Honda is a different proposition though. If you're looking to get into F1 then they have an excellent base on which to build - providing they can keep people like Brawn.

[Roddie]

Judging by their recent performance, it's not such a fantastic proposition.

[Duddyroar]

Never underestimate how much money it costs to actually establish an F1 team, though. That's why you see so many teams being bought up by new owners (Jag > Red Bull, Jordan > Midland > Spyker > Force India, Tyrrell > BAR > Honda, etc).

The setup at Honda is going to be of a world-class standard and if you're looking to move into the sport then it's as good a chance as you're ever going to get.

[Roddie]

Was just reading another article about it on The Guardian that pointed out with Force India's switch to McLaren, if a buyer picks up the Honda team they could be supplied with Ferrari engines. After Toro Rosso's achievements this year, that might be a smart move.

[Alastair]

Ferrari B-Team anyone? You heard it here first!

[bwi]

I cant see this being the only team to quit. Bernie's obsession with having manufacturers running teams always made them liable to to quit when a recession would hit.

Nearly all (i cant of any that have increased sales) manufacturers have seen car sales plummet in recent months. You also have to think that Honda don't just make cars but lots of other products whereas most of the others are purely car manufacturers.

Didnt Aston Martin announce and 85% drop in sales since november last year?

Bri

[Duddyroar]

Honda's sales have dropped 41% or something, in the space of a year. Madness.

[Roddie]

Yeah it really can't bode well for the other teams. What's surprised me most is how sudden this announcement was. Like someone else pointed out, they were talking about the possibility of wins in 2009, but surely they must have known this was coming?

[Richard.John]

Some Mid East entity will come in a gobble it up (probably) I think Prodrive is the best fit considering that they used to run the team.

[Duddyroar]

I wonder if ProDrive is one of the 'interested parties'?

Like Roddie says, this is a real shocker, anyway. Not what I expected to read first thing this morning!

I bet Bernie is feeling pretty stupid right now, though. He seems to think that everyone involved with F1 has bottemless pockets, everyone from the circuit organisers to the teams themselves. What good is it going to be having these ultra-expensive middle East and asian race venues when the teams driving around them don't have two pennies to rub together?

He really needs replacing before he does any more damage. Thank fook Max has his head screwed on properly.

[Richard.John]

It seems that Cosworth will be the FIA's choice for the standard power unit. They have the pedigree, no doubt.