London  - Drastic cost-cutting measures in Formula One racing won't change the pecking order in the sport, record world champion Michael Schumacher believes.

Schumacher said the savings were necessary amid the global recession which also affects him in the form of less tests at Ferrari than originally planned.

But the German said at the Race of Champions on the weekend in London's Wembley Stadium that the famed Italian team, along with McLaren-Mercedes and others, will dominate the sport again in 2009.

"The top teams will remain the top teams because they normally have the better personnel," Schumacher said.

Stuttgart  - Ferrari president Luca di Montezemolo believes Formula One's governing body the FIA and the Formula One Teams' Association (FOTA) have found the right measures to help the sport come through the current global economic slowdown.

The two groups held crisis talks in Monaco Wednesday about the future of F1 where escalating costs and Honda's shock withdrawal last Friday were discussed.

Hamburg - Giancarlo Fisichella and Adrian Sutil are still not certain of driving for the Force India team in the 2009 Formula One season after team boss Vijay Mallya said in an interview Thursday that he has yet to finalise his driver line-up.

Mallya said in October that the pair would continue in 2009 but told the BBC that his team's newly signed technical link-up with McLaren to use the same engines, gearbox and hydraulics as McLaren- Mercedes had changed things.

Monaco  - Formula One teams and the international motorsport federation FIA reached agreement Wednesday on cost-cutting measures for the sport from next year.

Their proposals at a meeting in Monaco will be put forward to the FIA World Motor Sport Council on Friday.

A joint statement from FIA and the Formula One Teams Association (FOTA) gave no details of the proposed savings, saying full details will be released following Friday's meeting.

Stuttgart  - German car giants BMW and Mercedes Friday pledged their continued loyality to Formula One motor-racing but said savings had become unavoidable.

Both German teams told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa Friday the decision by Japanese carmaker Honda to quit Formula One would have no influence on their participation in the sport.

"Our Formula One engagement is financially solid," Mercedes sports director Norbert Haug said.

McLaren-Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton's victory in the 2008 F1 championships had provided an enormous marketing boost for the company, Haug said.

Tokyo  - Japanese carmaker Honda Motor Co considers disbanding its costly Formula One team as it battles sinking profits, news reports said Friday.

Honda representatives had informed its team, which is based in Britain, that it was to pull out of the expensive sport if no new sponsor was found, Japan's Jiji Press news agency said, also citing British news reports.

If there was no buyer by March, the team was to be sold, leaving current drivers Jenson Button and Rubens Barrichello in limbo, the BBC reported.