A Japanese spending war?
With Honda's BAR buyout, and Toyota's annual $400m budget, formula one is in danger of turning into a spending war between the Japanese carmakers.
Predictably, bosses for the manufacturer-pair shrugged off the concern amid the governing FIA's effort to reduce the need to dig too deep.
''We will spend a reasonable amount of money to make the team stronger,'' said Honda racing president Yasuhiro Wada.
Japanese rival Toyota, on the other hand, now has a budget that eclipses even Ferrari and McLaren, and intend to fork out another $70m or so for a second on-site wind tunnel.
''I don't think this expansion is so expensive,'' said Toyota principal Tsutomu Tomita. 'Two wind tunnels for a top level team is quite reasonable.
''But we are worried about a spending war — we have to always be careful about spending too much in formula one.''