Latest layoff: Jenson Button :)

Honda quits F1 amid economic slowdown
Japanese automaker says it needs to concentrate on core business
 
http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/28066396/

TOKYO - The global economic slowdown has taken an early toll on Formula One, with Honda quitting the high-cost sport to focus more on making and selling cars at the expense of racing them.
 
Honda CEO Takeo Fukui said Friday that the Japanese automaker was unable to continue backing a team in the high-cost F1 competition and wanted to put it up for sale.
...
Its move Friday underscored deeper problems in the popular but expensive sport.
 
FIA president Max Mosley had already described F1\'s combined $1.6 billion spending in 2008 as "unsustainable,\'\' saying the teams were relying too heavily on the goodwill of rich individuals and corporate sponsors. Mosley has vowed to push through cost-cutting measures by 2010 to make the sport more affordable for teams, highlighting Honda\'s announcement as extra motivation for change.
 
"The announcement of Honda\'s intended withdrawal from Formula One has confirmed the FIA\'s long-standing concern that the cost of competing in the World Championship is unsustainable,\'\' the FIA said in statement Friday. "In the FIA\'s view, the global economic downturn has only exacerbated an already critical situation.

As a Honda owner I am sad about this, but their F1 team sucked, so maybe it\'s for the best.

They dont want to end up like the big 3. I say it is a smart move until things are a little more stable around the world..

Yes, F1 is a much more costly enterprise than NASCAR.  
 
Carbon fiber costs more than chicken wire.

[Cerberus]

not surprised to see this outcome to be honest, surprised it was a big name like honda though, I would have thought it would have been one of the smaller back marker teams.

button could be an attractive proposition to a few teams right now, the guy has got an abundance of experience, and his talent is vastly underrated.

shame mclaren have got kovi nailed down for next year, an all english F1 title contending team would have been a mouth watering thought.

I expect JB to find a spot in another team for 09 should honda not be able to find a buyer, but had this happened 2-3 years from now, rather than at this point in time, I don\'t think that would have been the case.

If you take a look at team resources divided by points scored, each point cost Honda $57.2 million in 2007.

As a whole the teams spent over 3bil this year.

F1 is ridiculously expensive to compete in.