In December, Honda F1 confirmed they would be withdrawing their team from Formula One. A victim of the global financial crisis, and let down by years of under-performance, Honda placed the team on the open market and said that “a small price tag” would be acceptable.
Two months later, things aren’t looking good for the team.
Honda Racing CEO, Nick Fry, claimed that within twelve hours of the announcement they had already received three serious offers, and later that they had a dozen serious offers on the table.
As yet, though, the team’s future is still uncertain.
So far only three credible options have been reported by the media. The first was a possible buyout by Mexican billionaire, Carlos Slim. Despite an Italian paper reporting that a deal had been done, Honda Racing management denied the reports in late December, and little has been heard about Slim since.
In late December it was confirmed that David Richards, of Prodrive fame, was looking at a management buyout of the team, with the assistance of a Kuwait-based company which is also a shareholder in Richards’ Prodrive.
This option seemed credible given Richards’ track record in motorsport, and specifically with the Honda F1 team. But by January Richards ruled himself out of the running.
Another management buyout was mooted in February, with none other than Bernie Ecclestone offering £100m for a share in the team. Under this plan, team bosses Nick Fry and Ross Brawn would also receive a stake in the team.
According to Ecclstone, this offer was rejected by Honda. So much for Honda accepting a small price tag!
The only other option which seemed credible at the time was a takeover by Richard Branson’s Virgin group. But shortly after the rumours started, they were quashed by Branson himself.
Branson said that Formula One has “faults that would need to be rectified before we could go into F1”.
There’s no doubt that Honda has great facilities, great staff, and what could be a strong chassis for 2009, thanks to Ross Brawn’s influence. Jenson Button has publicly stated that he wishes to stay with the team, and Bruno Senna, nephew of Ayrton, has been linked to the second seat.
There’s no problem with any of that.
But unfortunately, the very reason for Honda’s withdrawal is the same reason they are struggling to find a buyer.
To Honda’s credit they have continued to fund the team during this period. But with the new season barely a month away, it is looking less and less likely that the team will be on the grid in Melbourne.
The big question, given the current economic climate, is whether or not Honda will be the only team missing by the time we head to Abu Dhabi for the final Grand Prix of the year.
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