Makes me wonder if Button knew this and wanted out...David Richards was the best thing to happen to BAR.

BAR engine suppliers Honda has announced that it has bought a 45 per cent stake in the Brackley-based team. In a new joint venture company with majority shareholders British American Tobacco (BAT), Honda will provide a new management structure bringing an end to David Richard's role as team boss.

Under the new agreement, BAT will own 55 per cent of the team and Honda the remaining 45 per cent. BAT currently owns 90 per cent of BAR (Holdings) Limited, the current owners of the team, and hopes to purchase the final 10 per cent of the company from its three minority shareholders in order to form its own joint venture with Honda to replace the existing BAR ownership structure. The offer was made to those shareholders this morning and BAT are waiting for their response.

If the shareholders are unwilling to sell their 10 per cent, BAT will put BAR (Holdings) Ltd into administration in order for the new company to acquire the shares from the administrator. This will have no effect on the BAR team, it will simply be a way for BAT and Honda to have full control of the outfit.

Alongside the announcement the team has confirmed that BAT will conclude its contract with Prodrive, the company led by Richards, which has held a consultancy agreement with BAT since 2001. Prodrive was brought in to restructure the management of the team and put BAR Honda into a position to challenge for the World Championship.

BAT is keen to stress that Richards has not been replaced, his role has simply been removed as the squad moves away from holding such a position within the team. Fry, as the chief exectuive of the new joint venture, though, would assume the role of team principal in everything but name.

"We were brought in by British American Tobacco to turn the team around and secure its long-term future and that is what we have done," Richards commented. "I am immensely proud of what Prodrive has achieved in a shorter time than anticipated. I believe that BAR Honda is now in a very healthy position to continue its pursuit of the World Championship. Obviously I and all at Prodrive will take a strong interest in the fortunes of the team in the future."

Antonio Monteiro de Castro, chief operating officer of BAT and a director of BAR, said: "We're delighted Honda wants to increase its involvement in B·A·R which has gone from strength to strength this season. We are particularly grateful to David Richards and Prodrive for helping to achieve this improvement and providing a springboard for the next phase of the team's development."

Wow .. F1 is gonna be crazy next year with all the juggling of teams and drivers.

The article makes it sound like richards/prodrive were a temporary thing for BAR anyway.. I hope they stay competitive, it was nice seeing more teams on the podium this year.

eww err.

That ends the agreement 2 years early. I guess Honda werent too happy about Buttongate. :o

http://www.pitpass.com/fes_php/pitpass_news_item.php?fes_art_id=22920

Which is just odd considering the CRB vindicated Richards.. :confused:


The more I think I understand F1, the less I actually understand F1

I thought Richards was doing a fantastic job. He took and also-ran and turned into a top 2 team. He helped beat Williams and Mclaren!

artkevin, I agree.

I'm not buying this "mutual decision" story, it reeks of Dave Richards spin. I would also dispute that they delivered on their 5 year plan in 3 year. 2004 was a good start but knowing Richards, falling short of winning was not his goal.

I don't see how kicking DR out is a result of Buttongate, but rather it's just your standard corporate buffoonery, a la Jaguar and their revolving door team manager position. Why would Honda be mad about keeping Button? That's in their best interest, and DR is to thank for that.

On a separate note, Mr. Felstead, I have a minor bone to pick with you: http://forums.nasioc.com/forums/showthread.php?t=130604 Sorry, I have a long memory on this one.... :devil:

On a separate note, Mr. Felstead, I have a minor bone to pick with you: http://forums.nasioc.com/forums/showthread.php?t=130604 Sorry, I have a long memory on this one.... :devil:

:lol:

So, how long until the rumors of Richards and co. joining up with another F1 team start circulating?

Has Red Bull named a team manager yet? :D:D:D

artkevin, I agree.

I'm not buying this "mutual decision" story, it reeks of Dave Richards spin. I would also dispute that they delivered on their 5 year plan in 3 year. 2004 was a good start but knowing Richards, falling short of winning was not his goal.

I don't see how kicking DR out is a result of Buttongate, but rather it's just your standard corporate buffoonery, a la Jaguar and their revolving door team manager position. Why would Honda be mad about keeping Button? That's in their best interest, and DR is to thank for that.

On a separate note, Mr. Felstead, I have a minor bone to pick with you: http://forums.nasioc.com/forums/showthread.php?t=130604 Sorry, I have a long memory on this one.... :devil:

which bit are you picking bones with? :lol:

Remember the reason Buttons management gave to releasing him from his contract with BAR? It was because of a clause in a contract between BAR and Honda. Honda would have been embarassed by that big style and you know how the Japanese are with their honour and public image.

I was picking bones with you very confident predictions that Prodrive was taking over BAR, rather than Honda. I supposed I should conclude with a na-na-na-na-naaaa-na.... ;)

I actually didn't pay too much attention to Buttongate, what were the details of that clause? I know the Japanese culture places emphasis on honour, but in the business of F1, winning is the name of the game. Personally I think Button still has much to prove, but many in F1, included Frank Williams and Dave Richards think he's worth fighting over.

yep, i got that bit wrong, i got a lot of it right though too. ;) Things have changed a lot since then as well, with F1 going to more countries who dont ban tobacco sponsorship and the FIA telling the EU to stick their ban where the sun dont shine.

The basic premiss of Button saying he didnt have a valid contract with BAR, was a clause in the contract that stated Honda and BAR had to have an agreed future partnership in place by the time of his option being up.

Aparantly Buttons management saw a copy of the BAR-Honda contract and at the time of Buttons option being up, it didnt have a deal signed between the two parties, that is why they tried to exercise their option to leave.

I would think Honda would have been anoyed that someone had access to their contracts and used that in public whilst Buttongate was going on.

The American TV commentators for F1 reported that Button's management happened to see a contract laying on a desk and jumped to the conclusion that it had something to do with F1 when it did not.

Button's managers suck!

Could Honda be upset at Richards due to how things went with Buttongate? Does seem strange to boot him after such an incredible year.

two guesses from me.


either thay are structuring for early championships in the soon to begin era of formula one (without technology).

or the ythink the team has been held back, i dot think brits get on that well with japenense though.

it will be funny to see them get beat by toyota next year :lol:

i dot think brits get on that well with japenense though.



That will be why Subaru havn't used Brits for the last decade and a half to win the WRC championship then. ermm hang on a minute. ;)

I wonder if that is why we dont get any japanese owned companies using Britain as its base in europe to build cars and electronics. ermmm ;)

maybe thats why they dont buy into a British based F1 team. errrm ;)

:lol:

Q & A with David Richards from Autosport.com


After three years as BAR team boss, David Richards' tenure at the team has come to an end following Honda's purchase of 45 per cent of the team and its decision to restructure the management of the outfit. Here the Briton talks about Honda's decision, his achievements and his plans for future.

What are your thoughts on Honda's decision to become shareholders in BAR?

The arrival of Honda and its investment is a very good and solid prospect for the team. With the uncertainties of Formula 1 and looking at the future and wandering what it holds, it's good to know Honda has committed to the team. In fact building of the team's windtunnel begins on Monday, this and other investment from Honda in the future means everyone here as total job security.

It's the era of the car manufacturer now, we've been through the first three years of the business and have gone through the Prodrive era which involved three years of building the team up to be a competitive and viable business proposition and my challenge from the outset was always to take the team to a place they could sell it and move forward. The next stage now is the car manufacturer and its influence over the team – a general indication of the era F1 is now going into.

After three years of hard work from me and the Prodrive team and can look back with enormous satisfaction and we'll move on to the next challenge.

Looking to next year, the car will be extremely competitive next year, Honda has done a great job on the new engine, the chassis looks good, the driver line-up is stable and going forward so I think that elusive win that we were looking for this year is now just around the corner. Despite everyone expecting Ferrari to be really strong next year there is every chance that BAR can challenge them right the way down the line next year so I think it's going to be a very interesting year ahead.

Do you feel like a victim of your own success?

I think we delivered a five-year plan in three-years so it's come a little bit ahead of our time, but you shouldn't look as that as a down, it's been a very positive sign and BAT are over the moon that we have done that in the time frame we did.

Did you want to stay?

My job was very clearly in this period of time and I made it clear that I was here to take it from one stage to another stage and that is what I've done and as far as I'm concerned that is now done.

Many will be surprised that you're not the team principal, what would you say to them?

When you sell a business and it moves on, it's quite normal that people look at the way a team is structured for the future and the way they want it to be structured for the future and you can't argue with that.

Are you not a little disappointed considering you have been fundamental in resurrecting the team to its current status?

It's no good to look at it in that direction at all. I've done a great job, I've set the team up for next year and it's in the best condition it's ever been in. I've got many other challenges at Prodrive to keep me occupied and perhaps the odd spare weekend to stay at home and see my family.

Is this the end of your F1 involvement or would you like another challenge?

I've learnt in this business that you never say never and it would be foolish to close the door on something now. But at the same time, don't expect to see me in the pitlane very much next year.

Do you have ambitions in F1?

I've always had ambitions and I've proven them and got my colours on that one.

With Honda investing more and intending to be even more serious than they have been, do you think that gives a greater chance to Jenson stayer for longer than a year?

I think that is quite probable and I certainly hope he would consider that. It's a question you have to ask Jenson and I think when he sees the performance of the car next year and the team he will realise there are great foundations here and a great team of people to go forward with, but that's something he has to address and I don't suppose he'll be making that decision in the short-term, I think he'll wait to see how next year pans out.

What's next for you in 2005?

I've never been short of things to do. Obviously at Prodrive we've just taken on the Aston Martin contract with the challenge of Le Mans ahead of us, which is going to be exciting. Clearly the World Rally Championship has many issues that I'd like to be involved in and feel slight remiss that I haven't given it the attention it deserves in the last few years. But I think above everything else I haven't given my family enough time over the past few years and I really need to address that.

Will you miss F1?

I will miss many aspects of it, but there are some aspects that I won't miss. It's been a very high-pressure environment to work in these last few years but it's been very rewarding by the same token so it goes in equal measure.

How much is Nick [Fry, BAR's new chief executive] going to be missed by Prodrive?

Nick has been an important part of Prodrive for the past five years and I think we have got very complementary skills. He's very good on the operational side, he's superb at the processes and the basic organisation of the company. But I've always believed that organisations evolve and move forward and I think if they don't change and don't move forward you don't give opportunity to new people and I think it's important that we do that.

Can you give a categoric assurance with the new teams coming on the F1 scene that you won't be at the head of those in the next 18months-2 years?

I wouldn't be so foolish to make such a rash statement as that, but I certainly won't be at Melbourne next year heading one of them up.

Was it by your own wish that you are not at BAR in 2005?

It was by mutual wish, I wouldn't say there's any one party that would say it was by their own wish, it's by mutual agreement. It's an opportune time because yes, there's going to be a transitional period over the next few months and I will be here until the end of February next year, but when things change you pick your moments and when we sat down and talked about the next evolution of this team and our goals, clearly I have an awful lot of obligations to other people in other areas.

Is this a prelude to a full takeover by Honda?

It's early days yet, but they are certainly going to be a strong influence for the team going forward, but at the same time they have made it clear that they are going to leave Geoff [Willis, technical director] on the technical side very much in charge, quite clearly that is the right decision given the performance he's brought to the team recently, but whether there's any need for them to take up further investment is a question for them, and of course to BAT when it comes to the end of the cigarette advertising era.

You have always stated that you wanted to win the World Championship with this team, how do you feel now?

Sometimes you set yourself targets and you have to revise them, when in the light of circumstances you have to look at things pragmatically and the right time is now for the situation that has evolved as it has now.

How would you describe your relationship with Honda?

We've had a very positive relationship. Obviously I don't hold back easily and I demand a lot from our partners and that at times will not endear me to every one, but that's my style and I expect 100 per cent from every single partner, at times it's led to certain frictions but I think there's a mutual respect there. I think you could find that we could be working on another project together in the near future.

Do you think the fiasco surrounding the 'Button-gate' scandal damaged you at all?

No, I think I was the one person who was undamaged by it quite frankly, I'd rather it never happened by I came out as cleanly as one would expect.

How would you feel next year when Jenson is standing on the top of the podium having won races and won the World Championship in a team that you crafted and created and there he is winning the championship and you're not there to share it.

I would feel very proud and very happy for them and I will sitting with my feet up at home enjoying a beer celebrating.

Forget F1, Dave Richards should be in politics.

well he was the account manager for Rothmans in Europe when he started out in motorsport, hence the Rothmans sponsored Mk2 Escort that he co-drove Ari Vatanen in to the World championship. Cigarette marketing/sales people are as slick as they come when talking to the media. Spin City has nothing on those guys.