Lawyer of the Week: Russell Van Praagh

Russell Van Praagh, a private equity partner at Taylor Wessing, advised Ross Brawn, the Formula One veteran, on the management buyout of the Honda Formula One team to create Brawn GP F1.

NASCAR, other racing series feel the pinch of economic slowdown

With attendance falling and sponsorship dollars drying up, all forms of racing are having to cut back. It's unlikely the name Joseph Schumpeter is mentioned in the garages where crew members tune the expensive race cars of Dale Earnhardt Jr., Danica Patrick or John Force.

ING pulls out of Formula One sponsorship deal

ING, the loss-making Dutch financial company, has said that it will not renew its three year sponsorship contract with Renault Formula One after this year.

Toyota vows not to follow Honda in crashing out of F1despite £2billion cost

The principal of Toyota’s Formula One team says the carmaker will stay in the sport. Although a deteriorating balance sheet had fuelled speculation that Toyota would – like Honda – pull the plug on its underperforming and expensive team, John Howett said: “I think we are managing the business properly . . . and I am confident that we will be there.” He said that Katsuaki Watanabe, Toyota’s president, had reaffirmed the company’s commitment to Formula One. Toyota started competing in Formula One in 2002 and the sport is thought to have cost it about £2 billion. It has so far failed to win a race.

Honda remain hopeful of competing in 2009

The Honda Formula One team said it was optimistic about its chances of competing in the 2009 World Championship after Nick Fry, the company's CEO, confirmed three prospective buyers had expressed an interest in taking control of the team.

Honda bows out as credit crunch hits Formula One

The credit crunch claimed its first victim in Formula One today when the Japanese carmaker Honda announced that it was pulling out of the sport immediately.