Branson talks about Virgin and F1

Virgin chief Richard Branson has added to the speculation regarding a Honda F1 buyout by failing to rule out that his company is bidding on the team. "To be perfectly frank," explained Branson, "even if we were about to take over Honda, I'm sure they would have a clause which would say that I'm not allowed to talk about it."

"I love Formula One," Branson told BBC Radio 4 this morning. "However, I think there are faults there which would need to be rectified before we moved into Formula One."

Branson laid out his vision for the future and, frankly, it wasn't too demanding. "We'd need to be sure that Bernie Ecclestone is running it, that the teams can make ends meet and we'd need to be sure that he's on a path to turn Formula One in to a sport that is championing green technology. It's not very green at the moment. Those two provisos would be essential before Virgin entered the sport."

Each of those issues is in hand. Bernie has no intention of retiring, the sport is on a cost cutting path that could reduce the cost of competing to under £100m a season, and there's general support for green technology, with FIA president Max Mosley especially keen to introduce 'green' fuels.

With those sorted, it comes down to financials. "We wouldn't want to enter the sport unless it could be profitable for us," added Branson. "It's obviously very well viewed in places like India and China and the Far East, South America, quite a lot of European countries and so with the Virgin brand expanding on a global basis it's certainly something that is attractive."

With the right level of cost cutting, the right level of sponsorship, and the right level of exposure, RealHondaF1.com's research shows that the net cost of competing in future years could be as low as £20m, and that would result in enoumous brand coverage around the world, something highly valued by the Virgin Group.

However, Branson dropped a subtle hint that all may not be quite as clear as it seems, saying "I very much hope that the Honda team survives and thrives and moves up the rankings quickly under a new brand."

There are three options left for Honda Motor Co. That is to go with Virgin, to support the management buyout of Nick Fry, Ross Brawn and three other Honda Racing F1 executives, or close the team down. We understand the decision has already been made.