*Honda* saga rambles on as Melbourne looms

Only 20 days remain until official scrutineering at Albert Park, and yet the fate of the team commonly known as 'Honda' or 'Brawn Racing' is still yet to be clarified.

It seems clear that team boss Ross Brawn's management buyout has been successful -- he attended the FOTA meeting in Geneva on Wednesday, even though the subsequent statement did not mention his affiliation with a specific team.

Britain's The Sun newspaper, however, confidently "revealed" that the 700 workers at Brackley will be formerly told of the buyout on Thursday, even though a "small number" of jobs may be lost.

The Press Association, meanwhile, reports that the Mercedes-powered 2009 car will be shaken down at Silverstone on Friday ahead of a four-day test at Barcelona next week.

Citing an unnamed source, the news agency also said an official announcement is expected before the beginning of the Spanish group test on Monday.

At the same time, the Dutch morning newspaper De Telegraaf linked the Honda buyout with the Dutch sports car maker Spyker, who amid financial difficulty sold its team to Force India at the end of 2007.

Asked about the speculation, a Spyker spokesman issued a "no comment" to the Dutch website f1today.nl.