Five stats from the opening weekend in Melbourne

1. In fifteen of the last nineteen seasons - including each of the last three - the winner of the opening race of the season has gone on to win the Drivers Championship. Jenson Button is now the favourite and the best price available on him is 3/1 with Boylesports.

2. The winning team at the first Grand Prix of the season have won the Constructors Championship in seven of the last nine years. Brawn GP are still available at 11/5 with Boylesports but Ferrari, who broke this trend last season to triumph, are still favourites. The best price available on the Scuderia is 11/8 with Ladbrokes.

Swiss rookie moonlighting as Jenson’s agent?

Sebastien Buemi says he would prefer to have Jenson Button as his Toro Rosso team-mate in 2009.

“I am hoping for a strong team-mate in 2009,” Buemi told Swiss daily Blick.

“I would prefer Button. However, Honda could return next season as the new cost-cutting measures could see budgets drop by 40 per cent.”

Sebastien Bourdais and Takuma Sato are both in the frame to fill STR’s second seat, but neither driver could match Buemi’s pace at Jerez last week.

Bourdais’ manager claims that the team wants to re-sign his man, but Bourdais admits he is struggling to find financial backing; the extra money Sato and Button offer may be the key factor in the team’s decision.

Button and Buemi would be an interesting combination of experience and potential, although Bourdais can be great on slicks and deserves a second chance in F1.

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:

Will drive fast for cash

First things first: we hope Jens kept the receipt for his Honda jet, because he’ll probably want a refund.

Secondly, will the third-best paid driver on the grid - yes, Button is paid more than any driver with the exception of Kimi Raikkonen and Fernando Alonso - still be on the grid in 2009?

If Honda can find a buyer, Button could stay put. If not, his only real options are as follows:

1) Audition for a Toro Rosso seat. Toro Rosso team principal Franz Tost might invite Button to test in Jerez later this month. Even then, there is stiff competition for a seat, and Button would have to be prepared to take a substantial pay cut.

2) Sit out 2009 and return in 2010. Nico Rosberg looks set to leave Williams soon, so maybe Button could return to his former team. Meanwhile, Jenson could hone his triathlon skills.

3) Do a Nigel Mansell and head to the States.

Which of these options is his best bet? We’ll leave that answer to you…

Could Honda’s demise spell the end of Button’s F1 career?

“Bugger.”

One week ago, Jenson Button confidently predicted that Honda would return to form in 2009. It was a fair assessment too - the team spent most of this season developing its car for next season, under the genius guidance of Ross Brawn (speaking of Brawn, Ferrari may come knocking again). And frankly, they couldn’t have been much worse than they were in 2008.

But with the shock news that Honda is set to quit F1, Button finds himself up a stinky creek without a steering device (like a paddle, say).

Does Jens sit tight and hope that a buyer rescues Honda in the next few weeks? Or should he get on the phone to Toro Rosso - the only team yet to finalise its driver line-up for ‘09 - and beg for an eleventh-hour test (bear in mind that he’d have to take a substantial wage cut for that to happen)?

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:

Crazy Jens can almost taste the victory champagne

Honda’s 2009 car looks quick, will be driven for Jenson by small Asian man

Jenson Button believes Honda will be much more competitive in 2009, so much so that he could even win a couple of grands prix (no laughing at the back). Speaking at the Japanese manufacturer’s traditional end-of-season ‘Honda Racing Thanks Day’ at Motegi earlier this week, Button reassured the 25,000 fans that Honda is a team on the up:

“The last two years have been very difficult for all of us, but I think we have a very strong team and we have a real passion for racing, so things will come good for us.

“I’ve already seen what is happening with the car for next year, and it looks very positive. It feels more like 2006, when I got three podiums and I won my first race.

“So it’s all very positive, and I’m hoping to get some more wins next year.”

The power of dreams, indeed.

Proof that Murray has lost his final marble

Jenson Button can still win the F1 drivers’ title. So says Murray Walker, a statement that suggests the 85-year-old commentating legend might be - how can we put this politely? - living in the past.

When asked to name his top ten drivers of 2008, Murray did not include Button, but went on to defend the English driver:

“I haven’t included Jenson Button, not because I don’t think he’s a damn good driver who’s perfectly capable of winning the championship, because I do think he’s a damn good driver who is capable of winning the championship.

“If he gets the right car next year – and hopefully he will have, because Honda are starting off from the same place as everyone else with the regulation changes – I’m utterly confident that Jenson can win races, and if you can win races you can win the championship.”

Murray’s faith in Button is touching but has no basis in reality. Jenson’s chances of ever becoming world champion are non-existent, unless McLaren or Ferrari suddenly decide to poach him from Honda. That’s not going to happen.

Button may indeed sneak onto a few podiums in 2009 - we’re not saying he couldn’t actually win a race, either - but unless Honda make giant strides in the next couple of years, Button will go down in F1 history as a good driver, not a great one.

Crasher bonus! Button takes on the mighty Nurburgring: