Honda To Quit F1

[Red Yaris 54]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/motorsport...one/7766092.stm

This might be to Toyotas advantage

[N15ky Boy]

I don’t honestly see how it can be to anybody’s advantage that such a large corporation has pulled the plug on their F1 program. As far as I’m concerned it shows Honda’s forecast shows no light at the end of the tunnel, and that spending £300 million a year on what potentially is a huge marketing exercise just is no longer viable.

Formula One operates on stupidly high budgets and unfortunately even as a huge F1 fan, the writing has been on the wall for a while now. It now down to the remaining teams and manufactures concerned to change the sport for the future and make sure we don’t loose anybody else.

No operation even ones the size of Honda are unaccustomed to this economic climate and today’s news has proved this, with Toyota throwing million after million at Formula One with very little to show for it who know what could happen next.

Nick

[Hoovie]

I cannot see Toyota not cutting back their budget a lot. And if this single engine thing is somehow pushed through, F1 will be dead anyway as the only ones with enough money to carry on competing will leave

[hertsnminds]

What if drivers salaries were cut from the millions of pounds a year they are now to just thousands? Would the current set of drivers stop racing? Would their be any shortage of applicants for the jobs? The same goes for footballers. Imagine how cheap it would be to buy a ticket to see a sporting event if you cut millions of pounds from the operating costs.

How much would they have to pay you before you would drive an F1 car or want to play football at the top level?

If the argument is that sports people have a shorter working life than the rest of us 5 - 10 years instead of 40 - 45 then surely they should only be earning 4 to 5 times the average wage (about 4 x £25,000) per year.

[N15ky Boy]

AutoSport - Toyota Commited To F1: http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/72345

[Fujisan]

I think Renault and Toyota are putting a brave face on at the moment, but........when push comes to shove their F1 operations could bite the dust very quickly.

Likewise Williams which relies on sponsorship rather than a Billionares play thing (Red Bull, Force India etc) could find it tough to pull in enough money when everybody is tightening the purse strings, even with the FIA's cost cutting measures.

[Elvis74]

Cash-strapped Honda quit F1 3 Years ago Karma: 11

Tokyo Honda will not contest the 2009 Formula One season, company officials said on Friday.

Escalating operational costs amid the worldwide financial crisis has forced Honda to shut down the racing team, Honda CEO Takeo ********ui said at a media conference in Tokyo.

He said the company would be willing to sell the team.

A pullout by one of the world's biggest car manufacturers will send shockwaves through F1, which could start the season with only 18 cars on the grid. Japanese team Super Aguri, which was backed by Honda, pulled out of F1 this year.

The season opens at the Australian Grand Prix on March 29.

On Thursday, Honda announced it is cutting jobs in Britain and Japan because of plunging vehicle demand. It has already reduced its annual production of consumer cars by more than 140 000 worldwide.