Top-5 (10 cars) remain committed to F1

Five of Formula One's top teams have pledged to remain in the sport, according to UK broadcaster, The BBC.

The broadcaster reports that BMW Sauber, Ferrari, McLaren-Mercedes, Renault and Toyota are all determined not to follow Honda by quitting F1.

Toyota, believed to be under pressure in the current economic crisis, said they were "committed to succeeding in Formula One and to reducing costs" whilst French team Renault, who finished in fourth with 80 points to Toyota's 56, also revealed they remained committed to the sport.

BMW board member Klaus Draeger, whose team won in Canada this year and finished third overall, said in a statement that Honda's decision would have no bearing on his company's involvement in F1.

"F1 involvement is an integral part of the company strategy," he added. "There is no better platform than Formula One for demonstrating our brand values. With the BMW Sauber F1 Team, we have from the start focused on high efficiency and have achieved our successes with a compact and powerful team. The cost-benefit ratio is commensurately positive."

Norbert Haug, the head of Mercedes Motorsport and Luca Cordero di Montezemolo, chairman of Ferrari also issued statements affirming their allegiance to the sport.

Former F1 giants Williams, however, have yet to make a statement, whilst Reuters reports that McLaren expect their revenues to fall by more than a third as a result of the global economic crisis.

McLaren team boss and co-owner Ron Dennis, told UK newspaper, The Observer: "Our budgets come from the advertising budgets of the companies that support us, and inevitably advertising budgets get slashed or, at least are significantly trimmed in times of economic strife. We predict that our turnover will drop from £280 million ($410.8 million) a year to as low as £175 million a year."

Honda withdrew from the sport on Friday, leaving their Northamptonshire-based team just weeks to find new backers or face closure.