Bernie Ecclestone won’t. What say you?

“Honda will be no great loss,” Wee Bernie Ecclestone reportedly told The Telegraph.

“Just look at where they finished in the Championship - ninth. They wasted millions and were a bad example to other teams.”

Way to get your Scouts’ Diplomacy badge, Bernie.

Do you agree with him? Honda were a spare wheel in 2008, but that’s partly because they spent the season thinking far more about how to be competitive in 2009 - and we have little doubt that they would have finished higher than ninth next year.

Will you miss them? Vote below or leave us a fantastic comment:

The biggest bargain in F1 history has expensive strings attached

You can buy Honda for as little as £1. But there is a catch…

It’s a little ironic that anyone can buy Honda, but no one can afford to run it. Even a very rich backer - another major car manufacturer, say - would not want to sink £50m into running costs for next season, nor take on a company with some 700 highly skilled staff; not in the current economic climate. Of course, a new buyer could decide to slash its new workforce and run a skeleton operation.

Honda boss Nick Fry claims that he has been contacted by three “serious” buyers, but we remain scpetical.

Who are these mystery buyers?

F1 rocked by global recession

“Byeeeeee!”

Holy KERS, Batman! Who saw this coming? Not us, or anyone else judging by the shocked reaction in the media. Max Mosley feared that something like this might happen, but most of us believed - naively, maybe - that F1 could continue to exist in its current state, albeit with a few cost cuts here and there.

Yesterday we told you that Honda had scrapped its annual media lunch. Who knew that the manufacturer had secretly decided to scrap rather more than a seven-course Christmas meal.

Honda’s Nick Fry claims three parties have already been in touch about buying out Honda, and there is every chance the team will run in some form next season, albeit on a greatly reduced budget - but hundreds of staff at Honda’s Brackley HQ will still lose their jobs. And if a giant like Honda can’t survive, you have to wonder if Toyota - Honda’s direct rival in F1 and in the production market - will also pull the plug, perhaps remaining in F1 only as an engine supplier.

So, dark days for F1. And with car sales plummeting around the world, the sport is more vulnerable than at any time in its history.

More on the F1 crisis throughout the day.

Read Honda’s full statement below:

Everything you need to know - but couldn’t be bothered to find out - about next season’s raft of rule changes

Tyres
F1 returns to slicks in 2009. With no grooves, grip will increase by around 20%, bringing a significant performance gain. However, that gain will be offset by the reduced downforce levels of the new aerodynamic rules (see below). The overall effect should be reduced performance through high-speed corners. Teams will still have the choice of two dry tyre compounds and will still have to use both compounds during a race.

KERS
Teams have the option of using the new Kinetic Energy Recovery System (or KERS), which recovers kinetic energy generated by the car’s braking process. This energy is stored using a mechanical flywheel or an electrical battery and then made available to the driver, in set amounts per lap, via a “boost button” on the steering wheel. Under the current regulations the power gain equates to around 80 horsepower, available for just under seven seconds per lap.

Bernie Ecclestone is determined to scrap the points system. Is he mad?

Wee Bernie is hell-bent on introducing his barmy medals system in 2009, despite the fact that most sane people thinks it’s nonsense.

Maybe the news that his giant wife wants a divorce has addled The Meddler’s brain? Whatever, the current points system works just fine, whereas a new medal system would give all but the fastest teams no chance of glory - the likes of Toro Rosso, Force India and Williams thrive on the hope of scoring a few points at each grand prix. Without that incentive, why should they race?

As for ensuring a more exciting championship, the medals system could see the drivers’ title decided with less than half of the season gone - what’s exciting about that?

We agree wholeheartedly that there needs to be more incentive for drivers to attempt risky overtaking moves - that is the raison d’etre of Bernie’s medal system - but there is a much better way to do it: use a variation on the old points system, when the race winner would get 10 points and the runner-up would only get six (1991-2002).

How about this:

Wee Bernie criticises world champ

Bernie Ecclestone knows a cash cow when he sees one, and in Lewis Hamilton F1 has found, potentially, the first billion-dollar sportsman. And Bernie will take any small change he can get right now, especially with a costly divorce on the horizon.

Wee Bernie may get richer off the back of Hamilton’s success, but he isn’t a fan of the McLaren star’s character:

“He is good for business,” Ecclestone told Auto Motor und Sport. “Out of the car he is a little bit arrogant. I think he has slightly too high an opinion of himself and that irritates the other drivers.”

Typically plain speaking from the Wee Man, but is it a revelation that a hugely successful young racing driver is a bit cocky? Of course not.

Bernie’s missus wants out

It’s official. Bernie Ecclestone’s wife, Slavica, has filed for divorce. With Wee Bernie’s fortune estimated to be more than £2bn - much of which is rumoured to be in her name - there’s a good chance that the ex-model will become the wealthiest divorcee of all time. She’ll get more than enough to keep her in fur coats, anyway.

According to a family law expert, Bernie stands to lose up to half of his carefully accumulated cash. Ouch. Should have signed a pre-nup, Bernard.

Perhaps this news explains Bernie’s mood. Speaking about the lack of a formal agreement between his own company and F1 teams, he said: “For two years I’ve had a Concorde Agreement available for them to sign, but the problem is they have so many smart-arses in the teams - doctors, lawyers, masseurs…”

Bernie could use a few smart-arse lawyers right now.

Wee Bernie’s marriage rumoured to be on the rocks

According to the Daily Mail, Bernie Ecclestone and statuesque wife Slavica are set to divorce after 24 years of marriage.

Slavica is reported to have moved out of the Ecclestones’ London home, because she has “grown apart” from Bernie. The Mail also claims she has already consulted a divorce lawyer.

Bernie, being Bernie, denies it all:

“The reason she has moved out is because they are doing building work next door and it is impossible to live in the house. She can’t stand the noise. I don’t know if she wants a divorce or not. She has moved into an apartment belonging to Petra’s boyfriend. We have people in the house taping the noise so we can go to the council to get something done about it.”

Hmm, hardly the most convincing excuse.