Honda Motor sold its Formula One team for just one pound (1.46 dollars) to former team principal Ross Brawn to keep it in the sport, a Japanese newspaper reported Friday.
“Since our withdrawal (in December), it was our top priority to sell the team on condition it continues its F1 activities,” an unnamed Honda official was quoted as saying by the Yomiuri Shimbun. “The price was not a problem.”
“We could not sell the team to partners who had sought to disband it and sell its assets on a piecemeal basis,” he said. “We also needed to protect the jobs of hundreds of people and we think it was a good conclusion.” … Details
A mistake which turned into a farce and ended in controversy started three laps from the end of the opening round of the 2009 Formula One championship in Australia.
Jenson Button won in the re-skinned former Honda F1 team’s, now Brawn GP’s first race, with Rubens Barrichello in second and Jarno Trulli third. Trulli was given a 25-second penalty for passing Lewis Hamilton while the safety car was out on the circuit, pushing him back down the field and elevating Hamilton up to third. Later that week, Hamilton was stripped of his third place and the team disqualified for telling untruths at a steward’s meeting…Â Details
But Ecclestone believes the gravity of the offence McLaren is accused of – which he says amounts to fraud – is such that the team could be hit with a heavy sentence.
“We need to investigate closer what went on,†he said.
“It is about stealing a point and a place but those are worth money so basically it is fraud, although I am sure it started off more innocently … Details
Darrick Antell Jr. of Greenwich is selling real estate — on his race car.
The young driver, a Cornell University freshman, plans to race the Atlantic Championship and Formula BMW this summer and is seeking advertisements to ornament his car.
However, Antell is looking beyond the usual ads for motor oil and chewing tobacco.
“There’s an endless amount of possibilities that companies can benefit from this, like investment companies in Greenwich. There’s a demographic of viewers (at the races) that use these companies for financing,” he said.
“You can choose to sponsor the entire car, which some people do to generate massive brand awareness,” said Antell, who plans on studying mechanical engineering.
Sponsoring a whole car costs from $25,000 to $35,000 for the Atlantic series, while the Formula BMW race runs $15,000 to $20,000. Big business logos cost about $10,000 for both sides of a vehicle, small logos range from $1,000 to $2,000…Â Details