Essential Reading for December 4th, 2008

Recommended links for December 4th, 2008:

• The FIA reacts – 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 FIA says that this will enable the independent teams to survive and help teams if they need to replace departing manufacturers.

• Honda quits Formula One racing – Takeo Fukui, president of Honda Motor Co., said the company would be willing to sell the racing team, which is based at Brackley, but that a new sponsor would need to be found quickly.

  "Near-term uncertainty surrounding the global economy continues to increase and we expect a recovery to take some time," he said. "This was a difficult decision."

• Honda poised to quit Formula One – Honda will quit Formula One on Friday, BBC Sport understands.

  The Japanese car manufacturer are set to announce that they are selling their team, with a view to closing it down by the end of March if no buyer is found.

• A good meeting in London – 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. In today’s meeting they agreed to further measures which will result in substantial cost cutting for 2009 and 2010. The teams unanimously agreed that a new low cost engine will be introduced in 2011.
• James Allen on Honda’s F1 future – Too much time has been wasted in agreeing a package of measures as the FIA and Williams management have been warning for months.

  The news is a major shock, because Honda is one of the most profitable of the car makers currently engaged in F1.

  If they can make this decision, so can the others.

• Honda looking to sell F1 team by Christmas? – 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.

  The fact that the team is not responding to requests for statements is a bad sign, as if the rumours are not correct they would need to be killed as quickly as possible.

• Something is going on at Honda… – On Thursday afternoon we received a flurry of reports that Honda F1 personnel have suddenly started applying for jobs in large numbers. We have been trying to contact Honda Racing F1 this afternoon but have thus far been unable to reach anyone. There are also reports of a decision having been taken to introduce significant budget cuts and voluntary redundancies at the Brackley team.