MAY 16, 2005

When Hell freezes over

When it was suggested to a member of the BAR Honda management that David Richards was rumoured to be returning to the team, the response was not at all surprising.

"Is that before or after Hell freezes over?" came the reply.

The rumours, which have kept some of the F1 Internet sites busy in the last 24 hours, have no obvious basis in reality. Richards left the team after Honda bought a 45% share in the operation primarily because Honda was uncomfortable with the situation that its Formula 1 operations would be run by a man who had represented rival Subaru in the World Rally Championship for the previous 15 years, winning several World Championships along the way. Thus, even in the unlikely event that Honda is unhappy with what Nick Fry has been doing in recent months, it is still not likely that the replacement would be Richards, unless he is willing to sell all his shares in Prodrive and have nothing to do with the WRC scene ever again.