The Honda CEO Nick Fry today revealed a trio of prospective buyers have already made clear their interest in taking over the team. The Japanese team have confirmed they are pulling out of the sport, a decision made in light of the global financial crisis and in a bid to preserve their core business activities.

The announcement has understandably sent shockwaves throughout the sport and there are fears other teams could follow suit. Bernie Ecclestone, the formula one commercial rights holder, said Honda's withdrawal from the sport provides a "wake-up call" to overspending teams and underlines the need to cut costs.

Fry, meanwhile, remains hopeful that new owners will be found and the team will be on the grid for the start of next season in Australia on March 29. "In the last 12 hours we've had three serious people come to us and suggest they would like to buy the team, so we're still hoping to be there in Melbourne," confirmed Fry, who added that the development of next year's car is already at an advanced stage.

"The one thing I would say is that this is a completely different situation from prior formula one teams stopping," he said. "This team is one of the best funded, has the best assets, the best resources in the pit lane, a fantastic group of people, and a car designed by Ross Brawn, who has won many world championships, and is ready to go next year. I think we are going to be a desirable asset for somebody. We are very hopeful, as are most of the commentators in formula one, that this team is going to take a big step upwards, so it is a big opportunity for somebody."

The knock-on effect from falling car sales around the world, in particular in the biggest market of the United States, has forced Honda to act. "This is all to do with the financial situation in the world and as you know all the motor companies are being struck very hard by falling sales," confirmed Fry. "Clearly more success on the track would have been nice but this is a much-bigger-picture issue."

Ecclestone, who has spent much of the year campaigning with the FIA president, Max Mosley, to get teams to reduce their costs, principally by agreeing to a standardised engine, said he was not surprised by the news. "This is a wake-up call," he told Sky News. "If you and I wanted to run a formula one team, we wouldn't need to have to spend what they are spending at the moment — probably £200m a year to do it.

"The trouble is the teams are basically run by technicians who should probably be at home playing with their PlayStations rather than spending fortunes to win races." Ecclestone believes the sport needs to start engaging with its fans again. "The average guy in the street doesn't care how many cylinders the car has ... We are in the business of entertainment and we should be building race cars to race," he said.

Honda, after six years supplying engines to BAR, became a works team in their own right in 2006, with Jenson Button winning their only race to date in Hungary that year. The last two years have been miserable for all concerned at Honda, who finished ninth in last season's constructors' championship, and with Button last of the 18 points-scoring drivers. If Button is to continue in the sport, just two options remain open to him: either a buyer is found and he retains his seat, or he moves to Toro Rosso, the only remaining team yet to confirm their 2009 line-up.

"Jenson has a contract with the team, and if we can find new owners then we hope he will continue," said Fry. "He has very much been an integral part of the team for a good few years now. He is a fantastic driver and a big asset, which will hopefully make the team even more attractive.

As for the 700-strong workforce at the team's Brackley base, they now face the prospect of redundancy after serving a three-month notice period. "At the moment it is business as usual," insisted Fry. "Obviously we have to go through the normal consultation period with the staff to decide the future of the company, and during that period we are very much hoping to find a buyer."