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TOKYO: Japan's Honda Motor is to make an emergency announcement on Formula One, the company said, following media reports it was considering pulling out of the sport due to the worldwide credit crunch.
President Takeo Fukui will hold "an urgent press conference on our F1 racing activity" at the company's headquarters here at 0430 GMT, a spokeswoman said without giving further details.
Various reports have said Honda is considering withdrawing from the sport and was putting its team up for sale.
"The Japanese company hopes to sell its team, which costs 200 million pounds a year to run, but is prepared to close the team early in 2009 if no buyer is found," said the BBC website.
"Sources told BBC Sport the team were 'optimistic' they would continue, but no investor had yet been found."
The respected www.autosport.com website said team insiders revealed that senior staff were called for a meeting at the Honda factory in central England on Thursday and told Honda was no longer willing to bankroll the team.
"It is suggested that the team will be put up for sale - and if no buyer is found by March then the manufacturer will simply pull the plug and withdraw from the sport," the site claimed.
"There are suggestions, however, that Honda may be willing to offload the team free of charge to anyone willing to support it - and they could even continue to supply engines for a period of time until another technical partner is found."
Honda finished ninth in the constructors championship this season with 14 points. Veteran driver Rubens Barrichello achieved the team's best result with a third-place finish at Silverstone.
The speculation over Honda's future came as the Formula One Teams' Association (FOTA) were meeting in Geneva to discuss ways of reducing the costs of the sport in the face of the current global financial downturn.
Max Mosley, the head of motorsport's world governing body, the FIA, has already asked teams to come up with cost-cutting proposals.
Honda Motor also supplied engines and other technical support to Formula One team Super Aguri, which called it quits due to financial problems in May.
The company on Thursday announced it will cut 760 temporary jobs at its domestic plants by the end of January due to weak demand in North America and Europe.
- AFP/ls/yb
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