Jenson Button

Rome: Flamboyant Indian tycoon Vijay Mallya was pipped to the post by Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim Helu in the race for acquiring the Honda Formula One team, according to media reports here.

Italian newspaper La Stampa said Slim, world’s second richest man, would plough his cash into the ailing outfit which would be back on the grid in 2009.

“The saviour has arrived: Carlos Slim, 67 years old, the second richest man in the world,” the newspaper said.

“The news is not official as all the details have yet to be formalised. But two things are certain — the team has been saved and the drivers will be Jenson Button and rookie Bruno Senna in place of Rubens Barrichello,” it added.

Mallya, who owns the Force India Formula One team, was interested in stepping in but the move was seen through a prism of suspicion as his effort to access Honda’s technical know-how.

Mallya, who is travelling overseas, wasn’t available for comment.

Slim also edged out Prodrive’s David Richards to emerge as the saviour of the outfit, which had earlier announced its decision to pull out of Formula One following the global recession.

Slim is a Mexican billionaire who largely focuses on the telecom industry with a net worth of $60 billion and the Forbes magazine rated him as the second richest person on earth.

In general, the recession has hit motorsport hard in Japan with Subaru and Suzuki withdrawing from the world rally championship.

Honda, believed to have an annual racing budget of around $400 million, announced earlier this month that they were pulling out of Formula One as a result of the global financial meltdown.

The newspaper, which did not identify the source of its story, added that Bruno Senna, the nephew of former triple world champion Ayrton Senna, is sponsored by Embratel, part of Slim’s Telmex group.

Honda first competed in F1 in 1964 and clocked up three Grand Prix wins, including Jenson Button’s in Hungary in 2006. Its engines were also behind dozens of victories by stars such as Nelson Piquet, Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost.

The team finished ninth in the constructors championship this season with 14 points with only Force India behind them while Button was 18th in the drivers’ standings with three points.

Veteran driver Barrichello achieved the team’s best result with a third-place finish at Silverstone.

Honda Motor also supplied engines and other technical support to Formula One team Super Aguri, which called it quits due to financial problems in May. Honda also have a number of assets, including technical director Ross Braun who guided Michael Schumacher to multiple world titles while at Benetton and Ferrari.

Honda was one of six carmakers that made up more than half of the F1 teams during the year. The withdrawal was prompted by a sudden and unexpected fall in sales.

Until recently, manufacturers such as Honda, Renault and BMW were happy to plough cash into the sport, in exchange for valuable television exposure. But now things have changed.

In November, Honda saw its sales in the United States and Europe fall by almost a third compared with the same period a year ago.

Other companies are also struggling to sell cars. Their profits are suffering, and that means Formula One is starting to look like a luxury they can hardly afford.

A handful of teams in F1 do compete without the backing of a major car manufacturer, yet they too are far from immune to the effects of the downturn.

They rely on support from wealthy shareholders and on income from sponsorship, but in the current economic climate, good quality sponsors can be hard to find.

“It is difficult. Times are hard,” said Ian Philips, commercial manager of Force India, recently.

“You just have to work harder, to prove that you can give a return on investment.”

HONDA FACT-FILE

• Honda entered Formula One Grand Prix racing in 1963
• Death of driver Jo Schlesser prompted Honda to withdraw from F1 at the end of the 1968 Formula One season.
• In mid-November 2004 Honda purchased 45 per cent of the British American Racing (BAR) team from British American Tobacco.
• In September 2005 Honda purchased the remaining 55 per cent share of BAR to become the sole owner.
• On December 5, 2008 Honda announced they would be exiting Formula One with immediate effect due to the economic crisis and are looking to sell the team.

Grand Prix wins

• 1965 Mexican Grand Prix (Richie Ginther)
• 1967 Italian Grand Prix (John Surtees)
• 2006 Hungarian Grand Prix (Jenson Button)

Source: Wikipedia