Comments on: The official announcement from Honda and the FIA’s response in full

By: Neece

Neece — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 10:29:34 +0000

They are killing Formula One. At first it was a slow death with little changes that started making things generic. This is too much.
Formula One has been the pinnacle of racing. The best drivers, the best cars, the most advanced technology. This watered down, homogenized insanity has got to stop. It’s going to be so dull!

By: DG

DG — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 08:31:24 +0000

K – I sort of agree – Ferrari, like Sauber, Williams and MacLaren only exist to make F1 cars, and Enzo only sold road cars to fund the racing…..
But, as has been pointed out, these cars are now the rich man’s toys, and Ferrari themselves depend on the goodwill of FIAT and the Italian government to keep them alive (or sell them).
I can see Ferrari staying in F1 as an engine supplier, but think about all their overheads – the factory, the test track, Old Schuey – they will only get the budget for next year if they can prove they are competitive.
On the other hand, MacLaren and Williams will be able to downscale operations to a bare minimum, and shop around for the best engine deal – they have both had Cosworth power before, and been very successful. BMW and Mercedes will both just become engine suppliers again, though I doubt Mr Sauber will want his F1 team back now.
I can see where Max is going with all of this ‘cost-cutting’, but isn’t it about time he put his foot down against Bernies/FOM/CVC’s rising costs as well? They are far more likely to kill the sport than the teams budgets…..

By: Leon

Leon — Sat, 06 Dec 2008 15:17:58 +0000

F1 needs to get back to basics. It has lost its way. Grown too big, too costly, too exposed to the superficial. Honda’s exit is just the beginning.

The Japanese, though clever and industrious engineers, do not and never have properly understood what European Grand Prix racing is about. Not to the scale they know about bike racing, for example. The same goes for super-rich middle and far eastern countries with money to burn on super-smart brand new circuits. They think it’s all about superficial gloss and glamour: a circus. And to a great extent that is exactly what F1 appears to outsiders to have become.

But at heart it was always a strangely complex European idea of supreme competition between brilliant engineers and drivers on circuits with staggering inconsistencies and difficulties; but circuits that also had atmosphere and history that your could smell and breath.

And with a few honourable exceptions ( Istanbul, Melbourne, Montreal, Interlagos, Suzuka ) it is just not very exportable.

This is where Bernie and Max are so utterly wrong. Bernie Ecclestone in particular is entirely seduced by the glamour and huge money which has been bloating our once slim and healthy sport. So I think that in about five years time, when this cat 5 economic hurricane has blown away all the dross, we’ll get back to a leaner, tighter, stronger F1 that will be utterly different to the sad situation we have today.

By: K

Sat, 06 Dec 2008 13:47:54 +0000

Ferrari are primarily a racing team, they have been in F1 longer than any other team, out of every team I would say they are the safest.

By: MattMann

MattMann — Sat, 06 Dec 2008 13:31:53 +0000

I ‘m really worry for f1 at the moment. I just keep on imagining gp2 like series with a small grid, racing on tracks which will pay a lot of money (middle east e.g Bahrain, Abu Dhabi etc). I’m just being pessimistic… but still.

By: sumedh

sumedh — Sat, 06 Dec 2008 12:01:46 +0000

GeorgeK might actually have a point there. Ferrari did have troubles with their KERS and the 2009 car. Possible reason could be lack of funds for the same.

And yes; Ferrari makes only luxurious sports cars. Stuff people buy when everything is hunky-dory. Not now; when businessmen are looking to save every single rupee/pound/euro/dollar.
They could be in some doldrums.

But Ferrari does have Etihad airways as a major sponsor. And middle-east companies are not affected much by the global meltdown

By: GeorgeK

GeorgeK — Sat, 06 Dec 2008 10:24:04 +0000

Don’t laugh out loud, but I think Ferrari may be in F1 jeopardy. The profits they make on their car sales are very high, but their volume is low. If they suffer a 30% drop in sales, in conjunction with ailing parent Fiat taking a header, who knows what can happen to their F1 effort?

That would truly be disastrous.

By: Explosiva

Explosiva — Sat, 06 Dec 2008 08:35:31 +0000

sounds like max is getting a little desperate since we can clearly imagine more than 1 other team pulling out now…

By: michael counsell

michael counsell — Sat, 06 Dec 2008 06:29:55 +0000

This could be great for Renault + Red Bull considering the Renault engine team disbanded last year. Not sure who else can take it up given contracts. Would be good if this came in next year. F1 needs to cope with the inevitable loss of manufacturers (there were far too many owning teams) and replace them the likes of Epsilon Euskedi and Litespeed who are beginning to manufacture and race single racing cars on tight budgets…

By: todd

todd — Sat, 06 Dec 2008 04:07:18 +0000

hmmmm just thinking about it, did honda end up confirming their drivers or not?

cause if not it would lead you to believe that they saw this coming for a long time (few months at least).