Honda will try to help Japan's Takuma Sato and Briton Anthony Davidson after the demise of the Super Aguri Formula One team, according to Honda F1 chief executive Nick Fry.
"It's something that we are thinking about at the moment. Obviously both drivers have done a super job over a number of years and if we can help, I'm sure we will," Fry told Reuters at the Turkish Grand Prix.
"But there's nothing planned at the moment."
Super Aguri were formed with Honda's backing at the end of 2005 after Sato was dropped by BAR Honda in favour of Brazilian Rubens Barrichello.
Sato, Japan's most successful Formula One driver, has been supported by Honda throughout his career while Davidson was Honda's F1 test driver before joining Super Aguri last year.
Both were left out in the cold when Super Aguri founder Aguri Suzuki announced last Tuesday that the team were withdrawing for financial reasons after the collapse of a planned takeover.
Sunday's race will have just 20 cars on the track for the first time since 2005.
CLEAR CONSCIENCE
Former grand prix racer Suzuki was critical of Fry, who had played a central role in those takeover talks with Dubai-backed Magma, at a Tokyo news conference after the announcement.
The Briton, who had expressed scepticism about a last-minute rescue attempt by German Group Weigl and was accused of telling Formula One supremo Bernie Ecclestone days earlier that the team would not be racing in Turkey, said his conscience was clear.
"I'd be very interested to hear from the person who thinks we or I have any responsibility for the demise of Super Aguri," he said. "It's a business issue.
"I am sorry to see them go, not only from the point of view of some of the people there and obviously Anthony and Taku but also because we put a huge amount of effort into trying to find the appropriate partner.
"The principal effort was Magma DIC (Dubai International Capital) and that got within a hair's breadth of happening. We put a lot of work in and it would have been nice to see it come to fruition.
"I can understand Aguri's emotion," added Fry.
"To be fair to him, he'd just announced to the world that he was pulling out of Formula One and obviously there are fairly serious financial ramifications for him.
"The fact that he was quite emotional about it is no big surprise. This is a pure financial issue and some of the things that have been written about being allowed or not into the paddock are somewhat irrelevant."
