Honda 'optimistic' on race future

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Honda's Formula One team have played down talk of an end-of-month deadline for their survival and insist they are preparing for the new season.

The Japanese team maintain they are hopeful of being ready for the season-opening Australian Grand Prix in March.

"Don't focus too much on speculation regarding time frames and deadlines," said a team spokeswoman.

"Work on our race car is progressing well. We're optimistic but may not be able to say more for some time."

Honda shocked Formula One last month when it announced it was pulling out of the sport because of the global economic downturn that has ravaged the carmaker's sales and slashed profits.

The fate of the team has become the big question hanging over Formula One, with the clock ticking towards the first race in Melbourne on 29 March and the possibility of there being only nine teams, with 18 drivers on the starting grid.

But rumours within F1 suggest a deal may already have been struck to sell the team and allow it to race this season, and that it is awaiting final sign-off from the Honda board in Japan.

Although the team have had talks with Ferrari about a customer engine supply, BBC Sport understands they would not be using the Italian manufacturer's engines.

Mercedes is said by some sources to be the most likely engine supplier.

Chief executive Nick Fry said this month that Honda had narrowed their options down to a shortlist of about 12 serious purchasers for the team.

McLaren's partners Mercedes has said it is willing to provide engines to whoever buys the team.

However Honda team principal Ross Brawn has recognised that it will take six weeks' work to modify the car to accommodate a different engine.

F1 to scrap 'bad' pit lane rule

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Formula One's governing body is to scrap the rule that saw drivers penalised for pitting early while the safety car was deployed.

Instead, the pits will be kept open, with software regulating drivers' speeds as they enter the pit lane.

"The rule introduced in 2007 was bad," said F1 race director Charlie Whiting.

The 2007 rule was introduced to stop drivers going through an accident zone at speed to get back to the pits and refuel while the safety car was out.

Whiting told the International Automobile Federation website drivers would have to stick to a time frame they would be given to get back to the pits.

"When we deploy the safety car, the message will go to all the cars, which will then have a 'safety car' mode on their ECUs (electronic control units).

"As soon as that message gets to the car, it will know where it is on the circuit, and it will calculate a minimum time for the driver to get back to the pits.

"The driver will have to respect this and the information will be displayed on his dashboard."

Last season, several races were affected by the safety car rule.

In the opening race in Australia, McLaren driver Heikki Kovalainen had to pit for fuel and tyres while the safety car was out and subsequently dropped to the back of the pack. He did manage to recover and finish fifth.

Three races later in Spain, BMW Sauber's Nick Heidfeld lost fifth place and finished out of the points when he was penalised for returning to the pits during the safety car period.

In Singapore, Nico Rosberg, who was running in second, and Robert Kubica both served stop-go penalties for coming in when the pit lane was closed.

Fernando Alonso took advantage of the situation to claim his first victory of the season as he had already pitted and was able to move up the field.