Another team could follow Honda out the door

We’re all still recovering here in the Gridcrasher garage. Honda’s decision to quit the sport left all fans of the sport reeling - and there could be another victim of the global economic downturn.

Indeed, Max Mosley says he suspects another team will drop out before the start of the 2009 season, while Williams’ chief executive Adam Parr told The Times that he expects just eight teams to line up on the Melbourne grid.

Toyota seemed to be the most likely manufacturer to follow Honda, amid a dramatic slump in car sales, especially in the US. But Toyota has confirmed it will compete next season - Honda’s exit means one less rival for them, after all.

If Toyota have decided to tough it out, Red Bull appear less committed. In a statement the team said it was “not surprised” by Honda’s decision to pack up and sell out.

“Numerous other race teams are having similar thoughts,” the Austrian group told AFP.

“The main issue now is whether the reductions in costs all of us must make will come quickly enough to guarantee a sufficient number of teams carrying on.”

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:

German driver abused on own website

The personal website of Toyota’s Timo Glock has been plagued by abusive messages and vicious insults, triggered by the German’s painfully slow final lap in the Brazilian GP, which enabled Lewis Hamilton to pip Felipe Massa to the 2008 title.

Swiss publication Motorsport Aktuell reports that at least 500 abusive messages have been left in the guestbook section of his website. One insult compared him to “a Polish toilet cleaner”, while another wished he lost a leg in an accident. Nice.

Formula 1 is a team sport, kids

Ferrari won the constructors’ championship, but does that mean they were the best team in 2008? No, it doesn’t. In fact, given the massive resources at the Scuderia’s disposal, you might even argue that they underperformed - with the best car on the grid, and two of the best drivers, perhaps they should have won the driver’s title too, as well as winning the constructors title by a bigger margin.

Looking down the grid, we find teams that punched above their weight, admirably: Toro Rosso had a wonderful season, outperforming the senior Red Bull outfit. BMW Sauber were remarkably consistent and could have done even better, had they not decided to switch focus to their 2009 car halfway through the campaign. Renault started slowly but finished stronger than anyone, while Toyota had a solid year too.

Anyway, a few names to conjure with there. What say you?

Vote below:

Toyota driver denies foul play on last lap

Some Ferrari fans and conspiracy theorists have accused Timo Glock of slowing down deliberately on the final lap of Sunday’s Brazilian GP, to let Lewis Hamilton overtake him and take the crucial fifth place that he needed to win the title.

Glock replied to the accusation by saying: “Are you taking the Mickey?”

Some Brazilian fans at Interlagos even booed Glock after the race, thinking he had robbed local boy Felipe Massa of the championship. But to blame Glock is ridiculous.

The notion that Glock allowed Lewis to pass him is laughable. Toyota had absolutely nothing to gain by helping Hamilton. Also, the German’s slow final-lap time matched that of team-mate Jarno Trulli, who was also on slicks in treacherous conditions - and Trulli was nowhere near Lewis.

Glock had zero grip on the final lap - it’s that simple. And if Toyota had brought him into the pits to replace the slicks with a couple of laps to go (as McLaren did, quite rightly), he would never have been in front of Hamilton in the first place, and we wouldn’t be having this debate.

Toyota made a wrong call, McLaren didn’t. End of story.

Toyota’s veteran is under the weather

Dear Mr Ecclestone,

Jarno has a bit of a temperature and won’t be able to do gym today.

yours sincerely,
Jarno’s Mum

Yep, poor Jarno is laid up in his Sao Paulo hotel with a “high fever”. The Italian was reportedly treated by Toyota’s team doctor, Riccardo Ceccarelli, but he should be okay to drive in practice later today. Lots of water and paracetamol - that’s what Gridcrasher prescribes in such a case. But don’t have a wank or your temperature will go through the roof - Larry David knows this only too well (3min 18 secs into the clip).

FIA’s plan for single engine supplier looks doomed

Ferrari have threatened to quit F1 if Max Mosley’s plans to introduce a standard engine for all teams get the green light.

“The use of same engines would deprive F1 of its competition and technological development,” Ferrari said in an official statement. “The board reserves the right to consider, together with our partners, our presence in this discipline.”

Surprise, surprise. It was only a matter of time before Ferrari showed its hand. Toyota had previously made a similar threat, and as much as the prospect of saving millions is a factor, the big F1 teams just don’t want a homogenised engine - imagine a Honda engine in a Ferrari, or a Toyota engine in a McLaren? It’s never going to happen, and we said as much a couple of weeks ago.

The car in front is a Toyota

You can never read too much into the results of Friday practice sessions in F1, but still… Timo Glock!? Where did that come from?

Glock’s achievement is even more impressive because he’s never driven at Fuji before: “I had to learn the track this morning,” T-Glo admitted. “It didn’t take too long - two or three laps, but it’s not an easy circuit.”