Sport - F1;Honda burns record 147m pounds

Christian Sylt and Caroline Reid

The Honda (NYSE:HMC) Formula One team has recorded the highest costs of any organisation in the sport, according to its latest accounts. Last year the team finished only eighth in the world championship but burned through £147m, with almost all the funding provided by the Japanese car company that owns the team.

This comes amid desperate cost-cutting proposals put forward by F1's governing body, the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile, over the past year including capping team budgets and introducing standard engines.

Turnover at the Northamptonshire-based team rose 23 per cent to £149.3m but just £7m of this is believed to have come from sponsorship. Last year saw the team introduce a radical logo-free livery on to its car, which is instead covered with an image of the globe to promote an environmental charity.