GO TO EARLIER STORY GO TO THE NEWS INDEX GO TO NEXT STORY Richards: Honda's exit a lesson for F1
By Jonathan Noble
Prodrive boss David Richards believes Honda Racing's fight for survival is a lesson that Formula One must now change if it is to face the future with confidence. Honda announced last Friday that it was pulling the plug on its Formula One efforts, leaving team chiefs Nick Fry and Ross Brawn with just a few weeks to find a buyer to keep the outfit afloat. And although it is understood Richards is considering an involvement in a deal, he is well aware that the current business model for F1 teams must evolve if teams are going to be allowed to prosper. Speaking at the Autosport Awards about whether he believed there was the prospect of Brawn and Fry finding a buyer, Richards said: "I certainly hope so. "It's a great team and a great team of people, but it's a salutary lesson for the whole of F1 that things are going to have to change, and everything is going to have to come back a little bit if the whole sport is to prosper in the future - which I am sure it will do." Sources suggest that Richards has been approached by two different consortiums – believed to be from the Middle East – asking him if he would be interested in running a team funded by them. Speaking to The Daily Mail, however, Richards admitted that the current financial climate and changes that F1 are about to make, means it is far from certain he will decide to get involved. "I'm keeping an open mind," he said. "You could say that the facilities Honda have make it an attractive proposition but I disagree. The overheads are not what would be needed in an age when Formula One is cutting costs. I won't rush into anything." Go to earlier story Go to the News Index Go to next story
Cosworth's 2004 Champ Car engine 
Formula One looks set to enter an era of standardised engines. The FIA is meeting with teams in Monte Carlo and is expected to approve the use by some teams of a standardised power unit provided by Cosworth, an automotive engineering company, from 2010 onwards. The move to a standard engine, which is common in lower tiers of open wheeled racing such as GP2, was pushed for by FIA President Max Mosley earlier this year as he aims to reduce team costs. This would not see the exclusion of manufacturer made engines, as at this time participation in the system would be voluntary and teams would be free to build licensed Cosworth engines or their own powerplants but on a performance par with the Cosworth unit. Mosley has stated that stabilising Formula One means that the FIA "...must stabilize the system with a base engine which anyone can have and which is inexpensive, as well as a standard gearbox" and has warned of future budget problems, saying that "Honda pulled out because of falling car sales and there is no guarantee that these falling sales, which affect all manufacturers, will not drop further".

Ahead of the meeting of the FIA there have been rumours in the Italian press that Formula One team Renault had broken with the Formula One Teams' Association (FOTA), rumours which Renault has strongly denied. FOTA was established earlier this year by the teams to negotiate with the FIA over cost cutting measures and other changes, changes it hopes will stop the introduction of compulsory standardisation of engines and other parts on F1 cars. The FOTA's position was hard hit last week by the announcement by Honda that they were leaving F1 due to the economic crisis, a move which has caused many teams to re-assert their commitment to a future in Formula One. David Richards, whose Prodrive entry to Formula One was called off last season due to costs, highlighted what he sees as the need for fundamental changes, saying that Honda's exit was 'a salutary lesson for the whole of F1 that things are going to have to change, and everything is going to have to come back a little bit if the whole sport is to prosper in the future'.

Five teams have reportedly expressed an interest in the Cosworth engines from the 2010 season, the five being all four independent teams (Williams, Force India, Red Bull Racing and Scuderia Toro Rosso) joined by manufacturer Renault. If only four teams sign up to the idea, the FIA has announced it will go ahead. Renault have been highly vocal in criticising the failure of the engine development freeze that has existed in Formula One and have, after a couple of seasons of struggling, been under pressure from their parent company to justify the continued expenditure in Formula One. Cosworth have previously been prolific engine suppliers in Formula One, their last stint was supplying engines to Williams in 2006.

The talks come as many of the Formula One teams are in Jerez for part of their winter testing regime, with potential Toro Rosso driver Sebastian Buemi topping the time sheets for the first two days.