19 Entertainment to promote Honda

_{source: f1.racing-live.com / GMM / CAPSIS International}

Simon Fuller, famous for making American Idol and the Spice Girls famous, will now get to work on improving Honda's F1 image.

His '19 Entertainment' company has penned a ground breaking five year contract with the Brackley based team, which is now fully owned by Japanese carmaker Honda, aimed at enhancing the squad's image via entertainment.

"This is exactly the direction the teams should be taking," Bernie Ecclestone enthused to UK's Guardian newspaper, "to broaden the entertainment and sporting appeal of Formula One to a global audience."

Fuller's first ideas to uniquely market Honda, Jenson Button and Rubens Barrichello, however, will probably not be seen until next year.

Honda's F1 principal Nick Fry said: "The competition now for an audience is not just within motor racing but comes from (TV show) Desperate Housewives and Chelsea Football Club."

Fuller named his company '19' after the 1985 Paul Hardcastle song, which refers to the average age of American soldiers in the Vietnam War.