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[Rivelution]

Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim, the world's second richest man, has rescued the Honda Formula One team, Italian newspaper La Stampa reported on Saturday.
"The saviour has arrived: Carlos Slim, 67 years old, the second richest man in the world," said the newspaper.
"The news is not official as all the details have yet to be formalised. But two things are certain - the team has been saved and the drivers will be Jenson Button and rookie Bruno Senna in place of Rubens Barrichello."
Honda, believed to have an annual racing budget of around 400 million dollars, announced earlier this month that they were pulling out of Formula One as a result of the global financial meltdown.
La Stampa, which did not identify the source of its story, added that Bruno Senna, the nephew of former triple world champion Ayrton Senna, is sponsored by Embratel, part of Slim's Telmex group.
Honda first competed in F1 in 1964 and clocked up three Grand Prix wins, including Jenson Button's in Hungary in 2006.
Its engines were also been behind dozens of victories by stars such as Nelson Piquet, Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost.
The team finished ninth in the constructors championship this season with 14 points.
Veteran driver Barrichello achieved the team's best result with a third-place finish at Silverstone.

http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5j1YGwPuDcUNH0tnyQE62E3yUwcqw

Is this true?

[bud]

Force Mexico?

[Kiwi_Chris]

that will have the team running on hopes and tequila
Can you imagine burritos being served in the paddock

[7UpJordan]

And they'll probably constantly play La Cuccaracha in the paddock and the pitlane until people's ears bleed.

But maybe it'll help get the Mexican Grand Prix back on the calendar?

[Denthúl]

Huh. If that's true, I'll actually be unhappy about it. :/

[Gaz]

Huh. If that's true, I'll actually be unhappy about it. :/

because of Rubens i take it?

least its better than loosing them but i'd sooner see prodrive on the grid

[Denthúl]

Huh. If that's true, I'll actually be unhappy about it. :/

because of Rubens i take it?

least its better than loosing them but i'd sooner see prodrive on the grid

Yeah. I just get the feeling that they'd become a billionaire's play-thing like Midland were.

[Gaz]

delete

[cap-dude]

It probably is true. Its not hard to see happening. But I'll reserve my judgement for whenever things are confirmed.

[Gaz]

Huh. If that's true, I'll actually be unhappy about it. :/

because of Rubens i take it?

least its better than loosing them but i'd sooner see prodrive on the grid

Yeah. I just get the feeling that they'd become a billionaire's play-thing like Midland were.

not a bad thing if its a situation like Force India he seams really into it

but if its just somthing to show how rich you are then its gay

[Gert]

There seems to be a fairly solid business case for Snr Slim to buy the team which is currently more than can be said for Dave Richards'.

Of course the whole thing could just be a ruse to force somebody's hand.

[cap-dude]

Well, its sounding more official now
http://en.f1-live.com/f1/en/headlines/n ... 0434.shtml

Apparently, its confirmed both Jenson and Senna will drive for the team next year. It'll be interesting to see how Senna measures up then, since I'm sure there's plenty of expectation.

[scotty]

Good news, only 18 cars on the grid would have been 'a bit crap'. Assuming this turns out to be true of course...

[Dutchcruijff]

Surprisingly I'm more wondered in whether or not the team will still be named as "Honda F1". I suspect he'll ditch the "Earth" theme on the car and laud about his own telecommunication company.

[darwin dali]

Is Honda going to provide the engine for the entire season? At what cost? Under what batch? And then in 2010?
Just curious...