F1 has become 'less relevant' says Honda

Formula One's growing restrictions have made the sport less attractive and reduced Honda's incentive to rejoin a series it abandoned due to the global economic downturn, the company's new chief executive said on Monday.

Honda withdrew backing for its under-performing team last December, only to see new owners Brawn turn the outfit into championship leaders, and Japan's second-largest car manufacturer said it would consider a return once it had recovered financially.

"It was a real shame that we had to leave Formula One," Takanobu Ito, who took over as chief executive last month, told a media gathering in Tokyo. "On the other hand, F1 is becoming less of a medium in which companies can test their various strengths and more of an event with mounting restrictions. There's little room for us to challenge new fields, so bearing in mind the current state of series, I don't think we have the desire to return, even if the economy improves."

Ito added that he had not heard anything about whether the Honda-owned Suzuka circuit would be asked to host the Japanese Grand Prix after Toyota's Fuji International Speedway gave up its hosting rights for 2010 and beyond last week.

Fuji had been scheduled to alternate each year with Suzuka, which is to host the race this year and in 2011.