Gil de Ferran leaves Honda

By mutual agreement with the Honda Racing F1 Team, Gil de Ferran will leave his role as Sporting Director to pursue other opportunities with immediate effect. This was announced today by the Japanese team.

Nick Fry, Chief Executive Officer of the Honda Racing F1 Team, said: "I am disappointed that Gil is leaving our team. Since he joined us in 2005 we have enjoyed a very positive relationship. However, a Formula One team is rather like a jigsaw puzzle in that every piece has to fit precisely in its place. Gil has become increasingly uncomfortable in his role and feels the time has now come to seek fresh opportunities. We are very much hoping that Gil will choose to maintain close links with the Honda family."

Gil de Ferran commented: "I am obviously very disappointed to be leaving the Honda F1 team. I have a huge amount of respect and admiration for Honda, with whom I have been successfully associated for more than 10 years. Consequently, my decision to leave has not been an easy one. I simply feel that I came to this team to fulfil a particular role and it has not materialised as I had hoped. I would like to thank everyone at the team for the support I have been given and I wish them luck in the future."