Honda is reportedly planning to sell its Formula One team by the end of the year, and if no buyer can be found the outfit may simply be shut down. The information comes from an unnamed senior source who is affiliated with another F1 team.
Speaking with Reuters, the source said that Honda has "a month to find a buyer, otherwise they are closing the team". Another insider, meanwhile, told Autosport that the deadline is actually set for sometime around March of next year.
The news comes after months of speculation regarding Honda's interest in staying involved in F1, following several seasons of poor results and exorbitant costs. In fact, Honda last year pumped $218 million into its F1 program to finish with a dismal eighth place in the 2007 constructors' world championship. According to Honda's own team of accountants, the annual costs where the highest of any F1 team on the paddock in 2007, and these costs are expected to be even higher this year due to heavy expenditure on new technology.
Other indicators of the demise of the Honda F1 team came yesterday when Shuhei Nakamoto left the team. Nakamoto, Ross Brawn's predecessor, was senior technical director after 2006 and saw the failure of Honda's single seaters in both the 2007 and 2008 seasons. Nakamoto will reportedly be focusing on Honda's motorcycle racing efforts instead now.
The one month deadline doesn't bode well for the numerous employees and sponsors of the Honda F1 team, however Honda will reportedly give the team away for free to anyone who has the money to support it - a move which may attract some unexpected suitors itching at the chance to get into F1. If no buyer is found, the 2009 F1 season will have just nine teams and 18 cars - four less cars than this year.
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