No More Honda F1

It was the shot heard 'round the world on December 5th, Honda announcing their withdrawal from the Formula 1 World Championship. How could this be? After all, this is HONDA, the team whose driver by the name of Jenson Button scored more points in the second half of the 2006 season than anybody else, Fernando and Schumi included. The team that was rumored to have one of the biggest budgets in the sport who hired none other than Ross Brawn for their rebuilding effort. Not Toyota, who has been mired in mediocrity since they entered the sport - HONDA!

Yes, also the same team that finished a lowly ninth in the championship this year, and the same team that could barely keep pace with the Spyker at the end of 2007. No doubt, these are tough economic times. The promotion of Earth Dreams/My Earth Dream the last two years meant serious lack of sponsorship dollars, and spending all this money with nothing to show for it surely angered the Suits back in Japan. The official press release cites, among other things, "the deepening credit crisis and the sudden contraction of the world economies". It's an easy and believable excuse, but it's unlikely the same decision would have been made if the team was finishing at the sharp end of the grid. Cut your losses and move on, apparently.

But why now? FOTA and the FIA have shown that drastic cost cutting is possible. And you just hired Ross Brawn, the mastermind behind the Ferrari/Schumacher dominance early in the decade. It was too late for him to have any effect on the RA108, and Honda F1 were very open about concentrating their efforts on the 2009 season and beyond, Ross' three-year plan. The man himself reckons next year's challenger is a top four car.

With all this, one can't help but feel sorry for Jenson Button. The man has never had a car capable of winning the World Championship, and the buzz was that things would finally pick up next year. Honda have been hard at work on the RA109 since April this year and the new regulations are going to level the playing field to a certain extent. Jenson deserves a chance to show what he can do with a front-running car.

It is reported that there are many buyers interested in the team, with it narrowed down to three strong possibilities. David Richards of Prodrive, who ran the the operation back when it was BAR, is sure to be on that list. Today, rumors surfaced of Peugeot-Citroen being a potential buyer, with Sebastien Bourdais being part of the package. This may also leave the testing seat open for, oh, maybe five-time WRC champion Sebastien Loeb, with a drive in 2010?

For Ross, Jenson, and the rest of the team, let's hope the forward momentum continues without Honda. We're looking forward to seeing them on the grid in Melbourne come March.