Honda appear set to retain both Jenson Button and Rubens Barrichello for the 2009 Formula One season.
Team boss Ross Brawn says the goal is to provide a competitive car for whomever drives for the team next season but quickly added that he sees no reason to tinker with the current lineup.
“Our priority is to sort the car out, because we believe with the drivers we have, if we produce a good car then they can produce from their side,” said Brawn, who joined the Japanese outfit after a one year sabbatical from Ferrari.
“So we are not looking at anything major on the driver side. Our main priority is the car.”
Button, however, wouldn’t confirm whether he would stick with the team.
“I would like to stay on next year because I think it’s a team with a great future,” Button said.
The 28-year-old Briton wouldn’t say if he had signed a deal for 2009.
“Being here next year would be great,” he said.
Honda have expressed an interest in Spain’s double world champion Fernando Alonso, should he want to leave Renault without there being a vacancy at Ferrari, but Fry ruled out any short-term deal.
“I don’t think it’s sensible to hire anybody for a year, regardless of who they are. I don’t think it’s anything specific to Fernando but in my view it’s too short a period to be able to integrate a driver and get full benefit,” he said. Fry said Barrichello, who finished a surprise third in the wet at this month’s British Grand Prix, had been performing well since the arrival of his former Ferrari technical director Brawn.
“It’s really noticeable how his disposition has changed,” he said. “Looking from the outside, Ross coming on board has helped Rubens, he’s someone he’s very familiar with.”
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