Rumours are intensifying this evening that Honda F1 has been saved, and will be on the grid for the season-opening Australian Grand Prix at the end of March. According to British website crash.net, an e-mail circulated to Honda F1 employees by team principal Ross Brawn suggests that the operation has been saved, with the actual saviour of the team as yet unknown.

It's being speculated that a total of five sponsors have been found to help raise the necessary cash, while other rumours suggest that F1 Supremo Bernie Ecclestone may be willing to put his hand in his own pocket to secure the team's future, giving him a say at the Formula One Teams' Association (FOTA) currently out of his control. Other stories, meanwhile, say that Honda themselves are willing to part-finance the team for the short-term, in order to avoid the huge cost of laying off the 600-odd staff at Brackley and paying the resulting redundancy packages.

As regards driver line-ups, the grandprix.com website is reporting that Brazilian Bruno Senna has been signed for the coming season, and will drive alongside Jenson Button, leaving no seat for Rubens Barrichello. Although early rumours suggested that the team would use Ferrari engines, it is now almost certain that the team is gearing up for a switch to Mercedes power, meaning the German marque would be supplying three teams on the grid -- McLaren, Force India and Honda.

With five weeks remaining before teams must ship their gear off to Australia, it remains unclear whether or not the team will appear at any forthcoming test with their new car, or if it will have to wait until the season-opener to be run. However, either way, it's expected that an announcement with regard to the team's future will be made soon.