UpdateF1 >> Formula 1 News > Bigwigs back Honda to survive

Bernie and Mosley positive

Feb.6 (GMM) F1 powerbrokers Bernie Ecclestone and Max Mosley on Thursday sounded confident that a buyer will be found for the embattled team currently known as Honda.

With less than 50 days to go to the 2009 season opener in Australia, there is still no sign that a solution to owner Honda Motor Co.'s shock withdrawal has been reached.

But when asked if he thinks a renamed Brackley based squad will make it to Melbourne, F1 chief executive Bernie Ecclestone said: "I think so.

"I think that will happen," the Briton told the German news agency DPA.

FIA president Mosley, meeting with reporters in London on Thursday, put a 70 per cent probability on a positive outcome to the Honda saga.

"I have no inside knowledge but my feeling from all the circumstances is that it is more likely than not," he said.

He indicated that reports of an attempted management buyout, led by existing chiefs Nick Fry and Ross Brawn, are true.

"They may succeed. They are both very competent people.

"Talking to the people around the team, they seem optimistic," Mosley continued. "But they always are until the moment comes."

Like Ecclestone, however, Mosley stresses that should F1 shrink to just 18 cars in 2009, no lasting damage will be done.

"I don't think it would matter provided we could lay out a plan for 2010 that makes it possible for a small team to run competitively and do so without losing money," he said.

"I think the days of the billionaires who piss money away are gone."

Written: Fri, 06 Feb 2009 09:11:18