F1 being run by Gordon Brown is a very scary thought indeed, I can see ASBOs being handed out instead of drivethroughs, and the race situation would be more or less the same, with the F1 circus interferring with even more middle eastern countries.
Any vacancies for test driver? Too many stalls on the grid and a bit too slow to be allowed in an F1 race, but good at destruction testing?
Plus I'm out of a job because like Honda we don't have enough money to go racing next year.
the one thing that really interests me is what will happen to button?
if you were williams would you be happy with your 2 drivers or would you find a way to install a driver you have already tried to resign once? or would you remember that he then dumped you (admittedly with money) to stay at the team thats now closing?
if you were button, would you sit and hope honda survive in some form or would you be looking for a seat somewhere (anywhere) else ?
personally i think it will all come down to just how highly regarded buttonis, he has a reputation for being a good smooth driver, especially in rain and someone who has a good feel for mechanical grip and can bring a car home could be very valuable this next year but his development skills could have taken a drop in image whilst at honda and this next season a driver that can develope a car is also going to be very important.
Probably wouldn't even need that much. In situations like this for legal reasons the buyout tends to be for a nominal amount, usually £1. But then you're buying all the companies debts and a huge salary bill. And i'd guess part of the deal would be to keep the company solvent, the workforce intact and take part in the championship for at least a year or two.
Anyone gonna step up ? Tristan, you're probably rich enough
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While it is sad to see yet another team leave F1, in the present financial climate it was bound to happen sooner or later. And i'd expect to see a few more go in the next year or so if things don't improve. I'm sort of surprised Honda was the first to go, but then again, they've done this sort of stuff in the past, so perhaps it wasn't such a shock. And there was something about that Honda team that never seemed quite right to me. Can't really put my finger on what was wrong with it, but they made some really odd decisions over the years, and despite all their optomism they never seemed even remotely capable of being a contender.
I guess the bigger question is, is this the end of F1 as we know it ? I'd say it's a distinct possibilty, which may not be such a bad thing in one sense. If it needs a global financial meltdown to weed out all the money grabbing turds who've been milking this F1 cash cow for years, only to be replaced with genuine and passionate die-hard motor sports enthusiasts who are only interested in the betterment of the sport itself and not how much money they can make from it, then i'd say, bring it on.
Not the first time this has happened, didnt Rupert Keegan (yeah who is he!), do something like this when one of the back of the grid teams he was with pulled out.
Doesn't Button have a several year contract with Honda? If so they're going to have to pay out that contract with a fair sum of money.
It's not just in the Sporting Regulations, in the Concorde Agreement there is reputedly a clause that will require teams to run third cars of the number of teams drops below a certain level - it's not known but that level is either 10 or 8. They would be selected by lottery. At some point there was a clause that said that Formula 3000 cars would be added to the grid ... can't see GP2 cars being stuck on the F1 grid unless they want a rolling roadblock.
Of course the concorde agreement no longer is in force.
Yes, a rumour. Then there was a rumour (actually some proof too) that Toyota was supposed to be revealing LMP project (or some kind of car looking a lot like it... since there was mysterious silhuette on the official website) couple of weeks ago in Toyota Motorsports Festival in Fuji, but that didn't happen and according to yet another rumour that didn't happen because it went back under reviewing because of economic situation.
Well he said he wouldn't come back to F1 unless it made some big changes, and now with FOTA and the cost cutting he might just be tempted. I know it would be an extremely popular move, Bernie should be begging Stoddard to bring back Minardi so the sport can get back some of its credibility and fanbase.
Perhaps foreign to Honda, who happen to be Japanese.
Like I said t'is only rumours, also perhaps there are now more than three interested parties?
As also discussed on F1Technical, whoever buys Honda will have a team without an engine supply, Honda are not going to be doing that, so they're going to have to find an engine deal, and adapt a chassis to acommadate this engine, all within a couple of months.
Even if someone does buy Honda, I doubt the resultant team will on the grid next season.
