AND then there were nine.

While Honda's quitting of Formula One because of the worsening economic climate has shocked many, those who have been following the sport closely will be saying a smug: "I told you so."

Permanent pit stop for Japan's second carmaker.
Photo source: AP

The FIA president Max Mosley's initiative to cut costs in the sport, up for discussion next week, now takes on added significance.

For while F1 is one of the most popularly-watched sports on television, it is also arguably the most expensive because of its technologically-advanced nature. The combined spending this year was $1.6 billion.

Even before the current financial crisis hit, the numbers just don't add up for the 10 teams. Competing in the sport, may said, was unsustainable in the long-term.

While sponsorship and TV rights revenues bring in just over US$200 million to each team's coffers, their operating costs average about US$250 million. This comprises car production, team operations and staff costs. As teams rack up more R&D to make their cars more competitive, more and more money would be expected to be coughed up too.

And the returns?

In 2006, Renault won consecutive world championships but they still had an after-tax loss of $3.9 million.

McLaren - who along with Ferrari are one of F1's giants - suffered an after-tax loss of $6.7 million that year as well.

Williams - one of the "smaller" teams in a category that includes Force India and Red Bull - had a whopping $55 million after-tax loss.

And it's worth pointing out that those red numbers were chalked up in relative economic boom times too!

When expenditure far outstrip income, common sense says something eventually has to give. All this means a bleak picture as the world moves towards a global recession that will certainly eat into F1 revenues.

Expect attendances at grands pix next year to fall as spectators cut back.

Also, much of the sponsorship money swirling around inside F1 comes from the financial services sector - from the likes of ING (Renault) and Royal Bank of Scotland (Williams). Expect this to drop as well in the coming year.

All eyes will now be on the meeting of F1 team owners with the FIA next week, when radical cost-cutting measures will be discussed.

(As an aside, the idea of a standardised engine is silly and takes away the entire competitive element of F1, but there may be other good suggestions that should be implemented as soon as possible. For instance, halving each team's testing distance to 30,000 km annually and using a less expensive engine type to reducing technical costs.)

Yes, it may have taken an economic crisis and the switching off of Honda's engine to make everyone realise who severe the financial situation is. Perhaps efforts can be effected to rein in the excesses built up in the past few years. 

If not, it won't just be Honda that will be left by the wayside. Expect Williams and other smaller teams to raise the white flag as well. 

Read the full story on Honda's move here.