Formula One News — December 2008

Crashed and Byrned, the story of Tommy Byrne, co-written by Mark Hughes, has been named William Hill Irish Sports Book of the Year for 2008. The book tells the story of Tommy Byrne, from his poverty-stricken childhood in Dundalk to Formula 1 - and how it all went wrong for the chirpy Irishman.

Young Dutch driver Henki Waldschmidt took part in his first official Formula 1 test when he completed a successful two-day run for Panasonic Toyota Racing at the Bahrain International Circuit.

The FIA World Council met in Monaco today and voted through the following changes. These proposed changes have the unanimous agreement of the Formula 1 teams, who have played a major role in their development.

The FIA and the Formula One Teams' Assocation have what they described as "the most successful meeting on Formula 1 matters which any of the participants can remember".

FIA President Max Mosley set out his vision for Formula 1 and its sustainable financial future in his keynote address to the Motor Sport Business Forum in Monaco.

Today in Monte Carlo the Formula 1 teams and the FIA get together to discuss cost-cutting strategies, two days before the FIA World Council meets to rubber-stamp the decision that are made.

American teenager Alexander Rossi became the Formula BMW World Champion in Mexico City. The 17-year-old crossed the line 0.655 seconds ahead of Michael Christensen with local hero Esteban Gutierrez third. As a reward for his victory, Rossi will be given a drive in a BMW Sauber F1 Team race car.

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown showed up at the Cafe Royal on Monday in London to present Lewis Hamilton with one of a series of British Racing Drivers™ Club (BRDC) awards.

FIA President Max Mosley is reported to have said that he suspected that a manufacturer would leave Formula 1 - and that he was surprised that it turned out to be Honda. He has also said that he thinks it will be difficult for Honda to sell the team.

We hear that Lenovo will announce tomorrow that it is to sponsor the McLaren team next year. The company has been involved with Williams in recent years, but decided not to continue the arrangement.

Lewis Hamilton was honoured at the annual Autosport Awards in London on Sunday night. The 23-year-old was voted as International Racing Driver of the Year and was presented with the award by the last McLaren World Champion, Mika Hakkinen.

After a fairly frenetic Friday, Formula 1 settled down to dealing with realities on Saturday and Mercedes, BMW, Renault and Toyota all stepped forward and said that they are staying in Formula 1 and that Honda's withdrawal is not the end of civilisation as we know it - as was being forecast by some. Ferrari also added its comments of the Honda affair.

Reports of Red Bull pulling out of Formula 1 seems at best contrived by people trying to sell stories to gullible newspapers, or being led up the garden path by those with scaremongering agendas.

The Formula 1 team principals may be blind to it, but Tonio Liuzzi's talent is still there. The Italian, who now tests for Force India, dominated the opening race of the Speedcar season at the Dubai Autodrome.

Nick Fry, the chief executive of Honda Racing F1, says that he is hopeful that the team will still be on the Formula 1 grid for the start of next season.

There are many people in the world who would like to be given a Formula 1 team to run, but there are not many people who can afford to do that, particularly in the current economic climate.

The economic crisis that has engulfed the western world is hitting companies in many different fields. Williams sponsor AT&T, for example, has just announced 12,000 job cuts (4% of its workforce) in an effort to significantly reduce costs.

The FIA has reacted to the news of Honda's withdrawal with a letter to the teams saying that its tender processes are now complete and that Cosworth, together with Xtrac and Ricardo Transmissions will supply a complete Formula 1 power train beginning in 2010.

The Honda Motor Company has confirmed that it is pulling out of Formula 1 racing. The company's chief executive Takeo Fukui told the media in Japan that the move was necessary because of difficult business conditions and added that there are no plans to be supply engines in F1 either.

Honda has given its Formula 1 team three months to find a new owner - or else the team will shut down. An announcement is expected from Japan in the course of the next few hours.

The loss of Honda from Formula 1, which is due to be confirmed in a few hours, will be a big blow to the sport, but the downturn in the world economy is merciless and is hurting racing across the board.

The Formula One Teams' Association met today in London to address the relevant commercial challenges that are faced by F1. The teams had previously unanimously agreed measures that will significantly reduce costs in 2009.

Ford may be on the verge of bankruptcy but it seems that such matters are not important in the overall scheme of things as it has just announced the appointment of Jost Capito as Director, Global Performance Vehicles and Motorsport Business Development.

Multiple sources are now reporting that Honda Racing F1 is being put up for sale and that if the sale is not completed by Christmas the team will be closed down. There is no confirmation from any Honda company officials, but teams across Europe are reporting that they have received a rush of applications from Honda F1 personnel in the course of the day.

Honda Motor announced yesterday that its sales in the United States in November had fallen by 32% in comparison to a year ago. This was around the same drop as Toyota reported on Tuesday.