Richards and Arabs may buy Honda F1 team
However, sources have told autosport.com that despite Richards talking about a takeover with potential backers from Kuwait, plus the outfit's chiefs Nick Fry and Ross Brawn, he has now officially pulled himself out of the discussions.
"All I can say is that I have made it very clear that the only terms (under which) I would ever consider a return or an involvement was if I felt we could be competitive – and nobody expects to win in their first year of Formula One," he said on the main Autosport stage.
"It has also got to be financially viable. You expect to (have to) invest but you also expect it to work. I just personally feel that the current environment is too unsettled.
"The cost-cutting process that has been put in place has not yet seen its full benefit, and I don't think it will be until 2010 that you will see those issues roll out properly. The teams have still got a burden of overhead that is unsustainable. So consequently, with the window of time for entry, I just question whether it is right at the moment."
"I would regard those cuts as modest inroads if I am honest with you," he said. "When you make changes to things, and you have to make a radical shift to get back to a sustainable level, you make that one-hit, one cut very quickly to get it done and then move forward from that point.
"You don't do it by a series of 1000 cuts. If I was involved I would be pushed hard for a lot deeper cuts a lot quicker."
12/22/08 There is much talk of David Richards taking over the Honda F1 team, and there are clear signs that is his intention. The big question is where he will find the money to run the team for the next two-three years as F1 restructures and downsizes to balance its books. His usual source of funding is Kuwait but Investment Dar is struggling right now and is mortgaging assets so an F1 investment, even to support Aston Martin, is not likely.
The other name that we have heard mentioned is that of Korea's Hyundai Kia Automotive Group. This is the world's fifth largest automaker, producing 1.6 million units annually, but it has no profile at all in the sport at the moment, although the company was involved in the World Rally Championship until 2003. Its aim is to become a global quality brand and the company is understood to be heavily involved in the planned Korean GP that will begin in 2010. Hyundai Kia is also expanding into hybrid technology and there may be some value in taking on Honda's environmental message (although some sponsorship would definitely help). Grandprix.com
12/20/08 The man who took Jenson Button to Honda was in the Middle East yesterday attempting to broker a deal to save the Formula One team from going out of business.
David Richards flew by private jet from Southampton on Friday night to brief investors with an interest in the Northamptonshire-based team, who are threatened with extinction and the loss of 700 jobs by the end of next month.
Button is the highest-paid employee, on a three-year contract worth £24million, and Richards suggested the British driver’s future could be secure when he said: ‘Jenson is an outstanding grand prix driver, the kind you would want to build a team around.’
Button expressed a desire in The Mail on Sunday last week to remain loyal to the team- but the clock is running down. It is understood that Honda have given senior executives Ross Brawn and Nick Fry until January 31 to find a buyer after being dissuaded by the two Englishmen from shutting down the team with immediate effect when they announced their shock withdrawal three weeks ago.
Richards, 56, has the expertise, experience and drive to compete in Formula One, a complex amalgam of business, politics and sport.
He spent three years as team principal of BAR Honda, signing Button after the British driver was jettisoned by Renault six years ago, before the Japanese car company took full ownership of the team at the end of 2004.
He had a £60m budget, pledged ironically by a failed Icelandic financial corporation, to return to F1 this year with a ‘customer car’ from McLaren until other teams vetoed the arrangement.
Richards has strong Middle Eastern contacts after last month selling a 40 per cent stake in his company, Prodrive, to Kuwaiti investors, The Investment Dar Company (TID).
‘There are a group of people in the Middle East who want to support a Formula One entry for me and have been very specific about it for a year now,’ explained Richards, who is also chairman of Aston Martin, having led a consortium who paid Ford $1.2billion for the elite British sportscar company 21 months ago.
‘But we have to agree when the timing is right.’ More at Dailymail.co.uk