Honda has purchased the remaining 55% of BAR Honda shares from founder British American Tobacco and will be in complete control of the team next year.
This acquisition had been expected for a while and it will allow Honda to maximize their efforts as they compete with Japanese rival Toyota… and, of course, the rest of the entrants.
BMW announced in June that they would be taking over Peter Sauber’s team next year and so, including Ferrari and Renault, there will be at least five manufacturer owned teams on the grid next year. In contrast, it was only a few years ago that Ferrari was the only such team.