Branson wants to buy Honda team only if F1 goes green and cuts costs
Richard Branson would like to go racing with his Virgin brand that is known around the world. The withdrawal of Honda from Formula One at the close of 2008 provided a perfect opportunity to pick up all the pieces that are needed on the cheap. But you don't get to be as wealthy as Sir Richard by doing dumb stuff, and Branson is apparently aware of Roger Penske's warning about using racing to make small fortunes out of large ones. Therefore, before he proceeds with taking on the remnants of Honda's F1 effort, he wants to see some real change in the way F1 is run.
Branson wants teams participating in F1 to be able to make ends meet - and with sponsors dropping like flies that's becoming increasingly difficult. The other thing Branson wants is to see F1 get more green by promoting new fuel saving technologies. Aside from adopting hybrid KERS systems for 2009, F1 hasn't done much in this regard. If anything, most of the recent cost cutting moves have actually tended to choke off innovation rather than foster it. Perhaps Branson should be looking to Le Mans-style racing instead of Formula 1, since series like ALMS are actively promoting alternative energy.
[Source: F1-Live]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
ale 4:35PM (2/23/2009)
a Virgin sponsored LeMans competitor, that could be interesting, especially whoever gets lucky enough to get behind the wheel.. that is of course Virgin buys a good team, not by starting their own...
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Carney 4:42PM (2/23/2009)
Fuel savings are irrelevant. Who cares if you burn a little less planet-fouling, economy-wrecking, terrorist funding petroleum fuel?
F1 is decades behind the Indy Racing League here in the US, which switched to clean, price-stable, non-crazy funding alcohol fuel a generation ago. Indy Racing's prime motivation was safety (alcohol is less explosive in crashes) but I'm sure the extra octane didn't hurt. And they've been helping make the air cleaner ever since.
Brazilian cities have experienced dramatic air quality improvements since that nation went for ethanol in a big way.
When will Branson and F1 wake up?
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