Filed under: Motorsports, Honda
Honda F1 SOLD! to a man named Slim
According to La Stampa, Honda F1 has a buyer: Mexican telecom billionaire Carlos Slim Helu. Reports claim he paid the single dollar Honda was asking. He trumped Force India F1 owner Vijay Mallya, who was suspected to want the Honda team only for its tech know-how, and Prodrive's Dave Richards.When Honda announced its immediate departure from F1 on December 4, it gave the outfit 27 days to find a bona fide buyer who would make a credible 3-year commitment to run the team. If the team did find such a purchaser, Honda said it would assist with finances and technical support. Carlos Slim has the finances and the experience: he is reportedly the second richest man in the world, and his companies are already involved in motorsport.
If the transaction proves to be true, and assuming the team gets funded properly, it will mean a few good things for the 2009 F1 season: it will add another privateer team to the grid, it will let Ross Brawn continue creating the team he's been dying to lead since he was at Ferrari, and it will return the name "Senna" to the grid. Bruno, Ayrton Senna's nephew, is sponsored by Embratel, a subsidiary of Slim's Telmex company, and will certainly replace Rubens Barrichello as the one flying the Brazilian flag.
[Source: La Stampa via My Automovil]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
JGuan 8:25PM (12/27/2008)
YES! too bad to see rubens go though.
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Franz 8:32PM (12/27/2008)
I was hoping David Richards would've gotten it, since the team was very, very competitive when he was at the helm, but If this proves true then I'm just happy that the H-powered cars will be on the grid for '09. Here's to hoping Bruno will do for Honda what Ayrton did in the late 80s. It's nice to have the Senna name back, but I too am a little sad to see Rubens leave F1.
MachinaDC5 12:59AM (12/28/2008)
It'll be bad to see him go, but the original Senna talked up this kid... So we'll see!
brent 8:26PM (12/27/2008)
Pretty cool. The guy is worth 60 billion dollars so he won't give a crap if it takes some bucks to get Honda F1 competitive.
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Cameron 8:32PM (12/27/2008)
But will they still make it to the first race in Australia?
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Eric 8:47PM (12/27/2008)
Cool that they will live 3 more seasons, but I wish prodrive had taken over. Is the no-Rubens news for certain or just speculation?
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JMC3 8:52PM (12/27/2008)
He's not the real Shady.
Will the real Slim Shady please stand up?
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northvanracer 9:21PM (12/27/2008)
Fantastic news!!
This will help to get a race back in North America and Bruno will be great. The Telmex company is first class and they recognize the importance of motorsport to their core business interests.
I think Mallya wanted to pick through the table scraps and Richards isn't suited run a FF1600 team in my opinion. The list of drivers careers he's destroyed is as long as my arm so ya, I'm very happy with the news!!!
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HFC 9:29PM (12/27/2008)
Rubens Barrichello is still alive?
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tankd0g 9:40PM (12/27/2008)
Get rid of Button too and we might have something here.
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Reader 11:14PM (12/27/2008)
His face makes him look a lot less evil than I thought someone who has a monopoly on Mexican telecommunications would.
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Nick 2:14AM (12/28/2008)
Monopoly on Mexican telecommunications and dozens of other things. This guy built his wealth just like Russian oligarchs built theirs after the fall of the Soviet union, in ways that would be illegal to Western standards, hand in hand with former socialist government crooks (ironically..).
Mr.Oak 11:22AM (12/28/2008)
Nick:
I hate when folks try to make a political story of nothing. This is what irks me the most about us Americans. You know the ones of which I speak, the UGLY self-appointed judges of right and wrong in the world.
News Flash: Different is not always wrong, who said that we got it right in the first place. We revile everyone else, but embrace a system that allows the LORDS of our soceity to repeatedly a$$ rape the public. The string of heists, rip-offs, scams, schemes and bold-face thievery perpetrated on an unsuspecting populace is magnitudes more immoral than one business running its rivals out of town.
Savings & Loan
Enron
MCI WorldCom
Junk Bonds
Tyco
Insurance Companies that Collect premiums on properties for decades, and weasel out of paying claims. Residents of the Gulf Coast (Katrina).
Current financial crisis is the Creme de la Creme of the failings of a morally bankrupt system. Wall St. had an orgy with our money, now we have to pay even more to clean up after them.
I am not anti-capitalism. However, I do believe that the government SHOULD and MUST employ regulations to protect the investors and general public from the sharks. I'm sure this is not the end of it. We of all people have no moral ground to stand on in judgement of others.
hashiryu 4:21PM (12/28/2008)
*****Standing ovation for Mr.Oak******
Alexmonty 8:23PM (12/28/2008)
Mr.Oak: Well Said!!!
Vrian 12:58AM (12/28/2008)
Wew. whatever. but guess i'm kinda happy cuz F1 will be still competitive with Honda still in it, indirectly although...
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EEL 2:10AM (12/28/2008)
Don't sack Rubens, "Slim". Pairing Button and Senna together will just lead to a broken team. Button will never offer the leadership that his experience should warrant.
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slicecom 3:24AM (12/28/2008)
Darn! I was really hoping Richards would get it... I guess its better than nothing.
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liviu 3:34AM (12/28/2008)
i dont know about senna, i think there are other young drivers better than him
and button is way better than barichello, good thing that coulthard and rubens wont be at the grid the next season, a lot of stupid accidents wont be happening now
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Yago Bal 6:11AM (12/28/2008)
Button may be a better driver, but Barrichello gave 11 points to the team, this year, while Button managed to give them only 3...