Slim denies Honda interest

12 April 2012

Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim and Honda team principal Ross Brawn have denied they are in talks over a potential takeover of the Formula One outfit.

Slim was reportedly one of four interested parties in negotiations to buy the troubled outfit following the withdrawal of the Japanese car giants from the sport earlier this month.

Italian newspaper La Stampa reported Slim, who owns telecommunications company Telmex, had bought Honda and that drivers Jenson Button and Bruno Senna would be confirmed as the 2009 line-up. However, the Telmex racing team, which Slim also owns, issued a statement on their website quashing suggestions any deal had been done.

"The Telmex Team can confirm that Carlos Slim Helu has not bought the Honda Formula One team nor is holding any negotiations to do so, therefore all information related to this subject has no basis and is completely false," it read.

Slim's son Carlos Slim Domit reinforced his father's stance, telling the Mexican press that "it is a complete lie".

Brawn, meanwhile, told the Daily Telegraph: "We would love it if it were true but it's pure speculation from various members of the media. It's just been one of those rumours which has developed a life of its own."

However, Brawn insisted talks are progressing with other parties.

"There has been a huge amount of interest," he continued. "It's now got to the stage where we need to filter out the serious from the not so serious.

"We're all hopeful that something will happen and we're anxious to turn up the wick again in the new year."

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in