May 3 (GMM) The Brawn team will not receive the commercial revenue owed to a competitor named Honda in 2009, Bernie Ecclestone has confirmed.
Amid Flavio Briatore's recent rant about Ross Brawn and the Brackley based team, the Renault boss - also in charge of FOTA's commercial arm - said he will be proposing to the F1 teams alliance that millions in Honda prize money not be released to its new guise.The Independent newspaper claims that the funds in dispute amount to 20m pounds sterling.New teams are usually not immediately eligible for F1 commercial revenue, but before the Brawn buyout was finalised, it was reported that the current teams were happy that Honda's new owners could receive the 2009 income.Subsequently, however, the FIA ruled that Brawn was in fact not simply Honda's renamed guise, but an entirely new entry.To the Independent, Ecclestone reportedly revealed that the Honda money "will not be paid to Brawn" and actually might not "be paid out at all"."We can keep it," said the F1 chief executive, referring to a scenario where the other teams do not unanimously agree what to do with the disputed money.In the same interview, 78-year-old Ecclestone revealed that he opposed the application to change Honda's official team name to Brawn GP. The Briton said it is "not a good name, doesn't mean anything to the public".
