Honda Team Source confirms Virgin F1 bid

apparently the deadline for the Honda takeover is MONDAY because of the engine deal with Mercedes requiring payment by Monday

RIP HondaF1 then.

Richard Branson was on BBC News just now, in a general chat about Virgin's 25th birthday. Charlie Stayt asked him if he was in talks to take over Honda, and he said (with a wry expression):

"If there were talks going on, i wouldn't be allowed to tell you anything about them". He said this in response to the first question, and the same again when Charlie asked if he could at least tell him if there are talks going on.

That, IMHO, is very telling.

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He also said:

"I think if Bernie Ecclestone can make it more cost-effective for the likes of Virgin brand to come into that sport, and if he can champion clean motor car racing - which is possible to do by making sure all the cars run on clean fuels - then at some stage we might be interested in getting involved."

Which is a bit less telling... almost dismissive at this point - still, he could just be looking for assurances.

gav Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> He also said:
>
> "I think if Bernie Ecclestone can make it more
> cost-effective for the likes of Virgin brand to
> come into that sport, and if he can champion clean
> motor car racing - which is possible to do by
> making sure all the cars run on clean fuels - then
> at some stage we might be interested in getting
> involved."
>
> Which is a bit less telling... almost dismissive
> at this point - still, he could just be looking
> for assurances.

Yeah, i kinda took that as a message of sorts to Bernie (as if he'd be watching). I just thought it odd that he didn't just say 'no, there's no talks'.

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Reading this has made me think - let's assume that former Honda don't compete next year. They withdraw from the championship. Virgin buy them. What would stop them from investing bucketloads of money, more testing that the rules would allow, and then entering the 2010 championship with all of this already under their belt? They could build a massive advantage like this.

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You know you want to. [judgegrudge.mybrute.com]

Reading what he said I have to agree that I dont think he is buying the team.

It's disappointing, I thought it was pretty likely that he was going to buy it, but after reading that I think it'll be a miracle if he does.

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You know you want to. [judgegrudge.mybrute.com]

If he's in discussions then he's interested, but it sounds like he wants certain conditions.

He might want to see how these finances play out first. Perhaps he's considering part-funding this consortium for a year or 2 with a view to outright ownership when the economy sorts itself or something. It might not even be him doing it - he might just be offering the name for another company under the Virgin umbrella. All very far-fetched, but frankly we've got no idea.

Perhaps by the terms of the Concorde Agreement they can't pull out with a view to testing all year... certainly they'd have to pay the bond to get back in... no idea how much that costs now with all the upheaval we've had in the last few seasons though.

Whatever happens, I hope Honda dont get left out it in the cold. There's a lot of talented staff, including drivers, that would be left without a job which would be a massive shame . Branson and Virgin would be good for F1, he likes his adventuring (round the world trips etc) and this would suit the brand whole image and give F1 a massive boost too. If they were to buy the team, I could see them having a similar attitude as Red Bull which definitely wouldn't be a bad thing .

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Circuit Thermalito

Liverpool Waterfront Circuit (WIP)

Greetings to all,
This sounds like the usual branson/virgin stuff , remember Northern Rock?
He wanted to take it over but not be responsible for its debts.
There's no way he will be taking over the honda team unless someone else pays. Its just his usual publicity seeking BS.
He's now making all these statements that F1 needs to change (lower costs. Clean fuel) This stuff wont happen by the deadline set by Honda will it?

I personally think the team will be gone and wont race next year.

The need to start making the car ready now to take a new engine etc and merc wont let them have one until they can confirm their budget.

If Virgin don't buy Honda, then surely Toro Rosso have to be an option. Was looking at that BBC interview, and it does seem apparent that Branson wants in, in some form anyway.

Bernie Ecclestone has claimed that he approached Honda Racing with an offer to help fund its management buy-out, but was rejected by the team.


The Formula 1 ring-master has previously said that he would do everything he could to keep Honda on the grid after the Japanese manufacturer put its F1 team up for sale.


Now in an interview with the News of the World, Bernie has revealed that he offered a buy a stake in the team for £100 million, but had his bid rejected by bosses Nick Fry and Ross Brawn.


"I tried to help with the management buy-out," Ecclestone said.



"They should have taken what I offered.


"It was a very good offer for everybody concerned.


"It gave them complete protection but they wanted to do things on their own."


He hinted that he was frustrated with the lack of progress on securing Honda's future.


"Now all we can do is hope and pray," Bernie said.


"I don't think anybody knows what is going to happen with Honda.


"It is up to them to make up their bloody minds."


Ecclestone believes Honda now has three options, with only the management group and Richard Branson's Virgin company as potential new owners.


"The team can go one of three ways," he said.


"They either go with the management buy-out, sell to Richard Branson or they could simply just close down the whole thing."


He hopes the team survives primarily because Bruno Senna's F1 hopes depend on it, but does not think the loss of Honda itself would be a major issue for F1.


"The silly thing is we have got Bruno wanting to drive," he said.


"It would be fantastic for everybody to have the name Senna back in F1.


"If we lost a McLaren or Ferrari or somebody like BMW, people would wonder what's going on.


"But I don't think that will be the case with Honda. They didn't do too much last year, did they?"




LS's Tip of the week
ESSENTIAL OILS aren't essential unless you're an engine, a gearbox or a twat

£100m buyout for a team which is expected to cost £0? Either playing a game or a NotW story (despite the quotes) in my opinion.

They didn't do too much last year, did they

Great logic.

We will see if it was silly to reject or not in a few days, but if he's got that £100mil id be giving it to Frank the way RBS are going !

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"Trulli was slowing down like he wanted to have a picnic" LOL

Ecclestone did offer ex Honda Racing F1 help so they are of some value to him

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Chet, didn't Williams reveal only a few months ago that they had been recieving help from Bernie?

I'm glad Honda didn't accept Bernie's offer. That would have put the FOTA's usefulness to sleep...

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You know you want to. [judgegrudge.mybrute.com]




Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/22/2009 11:42PM by flat tyre.

Ah yeah true, but I think there are some tough(er) times for Williams to come...

Ecclestone did offer ex Honda Racing F1 help so they are of some value to him

Lol, never thought of it like that!

Bernie: "Here take some £££ in turn for share in the team?"

Honda: "No"

Bernie: "Fine, f*ck off, no-one liked you anyway!"

Well, something like that !

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"Trulli was slowing down like he wanted to have a picnic" LOL

flat tyre Wrote:
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> Chet, didn't Williams reveal only a few months ago
> that they had been recieving help from Bernie?
>
> I'm glad Honda didn't accept Bernie's offer. That
> would have put the FOTA's usefulness to sleep...


Help probably. But it's not Bernie's money. But money within the FOM simply forwarded to Williams that would go to the team anyway. It's all to do with the phantom Concorde agreement.