KEY POINTS:
The head of Formula One racing team McLaren expects his team's annual revenue to fall by over a third - more than 100m ($275 million) - as the economic downturn bites.
Last week Honda shocked the motorsports industry when it announced it was withdrawing from Formula One because of the "quickly deteriorating operating environment".
In an exclusive interview, McLaren boss Ron Dennis admitted that one of the most successful - and biggest spending - teams in the sport would also suffer. "Our budgets come from the advertising budgets of the companies that support us, and inevitably advertising budgets get slashed or, at least are significantly trimmed in times of economic strife," he said.
Dennis said McLaren's turnover would fall by 37 per cent. "We predict that our turnover will drop from 280 million a year to as low as 175 million a year,' he said.
Honda was trying to find a buyer for its team. But analysts doubted the carmaker would find a new owner for a sport that ate up more than 140 million of its parent company's money last year.
- OBSERVER
