The unsolved mystery of the Japanese-backed McLaren F1 B-team

Direxiv’s bid to join the Formula 1 grid for 2008 looked to have big-money backing, big-name associations and a plan to give Lewis Hamilton his big break. But shrouded in mystery, it all fell apart, leaving those who were slated to be involved in the project bemused

Charles Bradley Dec 25, 2021, 10:00 AM

Upd: Oct 10, 2022, 2:48 PM

History is littered with failed Formula 1 projects, but one of the most intriguing and bewildering flops of this century was one that aimed to make Jean Alesi a team principal and could have provided Lewis Hamilton’s first F1 drive in a Ron Dennis-blessed, Japanese-funded, McLaren-Mercedes B-team.

The mysterious figure behind the Direxiv plan was Shin Akiyama, who from Monaco ran a Tokyo-based investment company that aimed to expand by “collaborating with European organisations looking to enter into the Japanese market using motorsports as a medium for promotions throughout Europe and Japan”. He was from a wealthy family background, sustained by a pharmaceutical products business, and had some serious cash to splash.

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Author Charles Bradley

Charles Bradley is Motorsport.com’s Global Editor in Chief. After spending five years in the aerospace industry in his native North Wales, while working weekends as a freelance writer at racetracks around the UK, Charles joined the staff of Motoring News in the heart of London. He transferred to the nascent Autosport.com team in 2000 before transitioning to the magazine, becoming its Editor between 2011 and 2014. Charles then upped sticks to work in America, as Motorsport.com’s Editor in Chief, where he created the multi-national and multi-lingual editorial team that quickly became the world’s most-read motorsport website. He was instrumental in delivering three of the biggest Global F1 Fan Surveys in sports history and is also a multiple award-winning scriptwriter. Charles is an overseas member of the Guild of Motoring Writers. He lives in Miami Beach with his wife Helen – and a cat that’s named after Serbia’s top football club.