Ex-Honda team closes on F1 return

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The former Honda team plans to test at Silverstone and Barcelona in the next fortnight, raising hopes it will start the new Formula One season next month.

Honda pulled out of F1 in December as a result of the global financial crisis, leaving the British-based outfit to search desperately for a buyer.

BBC Sport understands the team will not test in Jerez next week but will have a "shake-down" test at Silverstone.

The outfit then hope to make the full team test in Barcelona on 9 March.

Team members have been told a deal is close and to prepare to race in 2009, with the new season getting under way at the Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne on 29 March.

It is unclear who the new owners would be, but speculation has focused on a buy-out led by the current management of chief executive Nick Fry and team principal Ross Brawn.

A senior source at the former Honda team, which is based in Brackley, Northamptonshire, told "We're carrying on as if we're going to Melbourne."

The source likened the situation to "being in the final stages of buying a house when the contracts are agreed and signed and it's with the lawyers".

The source added that Brawn had told employees that "everything's positive - it's all going ahead". No decision had yet been made on a driver line-up, but BBC Sport has learned that Englishman Jenson Button will definitely race for the team if it gets the official go-ahead.

The second seat is understood to be between two Brazilians - veteran Rubens Barrichello, Button's team-mate since 2006, and novice Bruno Senna, the nephew of F1 legend Ayrton.

The car will be fitted with a Mercedes engine.

"There's no way we'd go to any test without an engine deal," the source said. "If we're going to Jerez, it means it's a done deal."

It is unclear whether any official announcement would be made before the test.

Even if the team make it to the final pre-season test in Barcelona in mid-March, they still face an uphill struggle to be competitive at the start of the season.

At the time of Honda's withdrawal, Brawn expressed his belief that the car could run in the top three in 2009, despite the team's poor form in the last two years.

But the recent uncertainty will have affected development effort, and they have lost running time to their rivals, most of whom have completed at least two full four-day tests already.