Prodrive announces interest in F1

Mr Richards said the company might enter Formula One

An Oxfordshire-based motor sport and engineering business has announced an interest in entering Formula One.

Chairman of Prodrive David Richards said he was "very serious about entering Formula One providing that it is commercially viable".

The firm made 160 people redundant after losing its contract with the Subaru team, which pulled out of the rally championships last December.

Prodrive has recently announced pre-tax profits of £2.1m.

Mr Richards said the company could "house a new style Formula One team within our Banbury HQ, using the space vacated by the rally programme".

He added that the work undertaken in 2007 in developing a previous Prodrive Formula One project would give the company "a big head start on the project".

"Many of the key personnel are ready to be switched back on," he said.

Prodrive won a total of six world rally championships by running a team for Subaru.

Last December, Subaru announced it was pulling out of next year's championships due to the economic downturn.

The world championships represented about 20% of Prodrive's business.