Honda Have A Dozen Options For F1 Team, Says Fry

Fry did not name any of the interested parties, with most of those identified in the media in recent weeks denying any intention.

Honda are considering about 12 serious offers for their Formula One team, Honda Racing chief executive Nick Fry said on Thursday.

"It's looking very positive at the moment," the Briton said at the Autosport International Show in Birmingham.

"We had, as you might expect, a huge amount of interest at the start -- probably well in excess of 30 groups came to us.

"We have narrowed that down to something in the region of a dozen, and we're currently talking to Honda about what is the best bet for the future."

Honda, among the worst performers last season despite having one of the biggest budgets, announced last month that they were pulling out of Formula One due to the global financial crisis which has hammered car manufacturers.

Fry did not name any of the interested parties, with most of those identified in the media in recent weeks denying any intention.

However he told the autosport.com website that he was now much more optimistic than when Honda made their decision.

"Right at the start of this process (Formula One supremo) Bernie Ecclestone said that he was 100 percent confident that we'd be on the grid in Melbourne, and I have to say that I wasn't quite so sure where his confidence came from," said Fry.

"But as we've gone through this process, my confidence based on what we've seen has increased -- maybe not to 100 percent but it's pretty close."

Fry said Honda were a 'once in a lifetime opportunity', very different from struggling smaller teams that had been up for sale in the past.

"We've got a team that has benefited from 75 million pounds ($113 million) worth of capital investment in the last three years," he said.

"They have probably got some of the best automotive and other technology in the country, if not the world, and it has got an immensely highly-skilled technical staff led by (team boss) Ross (Brawn). So there's a huge amount going for it."

Fry added that the important consideration was ensuring a long-term future for the staff.

"Neither Ross nor I want to stand there again and say that everything is fine if in one or two years' time we fall flat on our face again," he said. "So we are really looking towards a two, three, five year plan for the team."