Ferrari confirms Honda engine offer
Following Honda's withdrawal from the sport, team boss Ross Brawn said he contacted his former colleagues at Ferrari about procuring the famous Italian outfit's 2.4 liter V8 power plant in 2009, should Honda Racing F1 be rescued by a buyer.
A Ferrari spokesman confirmed Brawn's account, and said no deal has been reached yet.
"They have asked us whether we would be able to provide them with engines, and we said yes," he is quoted as saying by the German news agency SID.
"That's all, nothing more," the spokesman added.
Including Toro Rosso, Ferrari supplied two customer teams with engines in 2008, but Force India will switch to Mercedes-Benz power ahead of the forthcoming season.
01/06/09 (GMM) Honda team boss Ross Brawn has confirmed he is in talks with his former employer Ferrari about securing a customer engine supply for 2009.
The Briton told La Gazzetta dello Sport that he and colleague Nick Fry are also speaking with multiple potential buyers of the Brackley based team.
"Honda has already said it will not supply us with engines, so that's why I contacted Ferrari," said Brawn, who was the Maranello team's technical director until 2006.
"We haven't signed anything yet but I really appreciated the support from president Luca di Montezemolo and Stefano Domenicali. It's like being among former schoolmates: they still see me as one of their own."
Brawn said his priority is to safeguard the jobs of Honda Racing F1's staff, rather than protecting his own position or selling to the highest bidder.
When asked how many parties the team is speaking to, he answered: "I can only say it's more than one. The objective is to save the jobs … my presence is certainly not a priority."
He said the team was unlikely to return to the test tracks prior to the start of the season, but that he is "really optimistic" about the chances of survival.
"There's no hurry because modifying the car to install a different engine requires at least six weeks of work anyway. It's unlikely we'll manage to be on track during the winter.
"That's why we are studying a package of evolutions for 2010, when we aim to step up the ladder. Next year will remain for us a transitional one," Brawn said.