Honda and Ross Brawn

(GMM) A rumor is doing the rounds that Ross Brawn's anticipated 'sabbatical' from Ferrari at the end of 2006 could in fact be a move to a rival F1 team.

Maranello based Ferrari is scheduled to confirm a new technical structure at the end of the year, and new speculation suggests that technical director Brawn could be moving to fill Geoff Willis' recently vacated Honda post.

''Formula one teams change shape and the shape of a team in the future may be different,'' the Englishman said last month.

At the same time, however, Honda team principal Nick Fry answered categorically when asked if – apart from the promotion of Shuhei Nakamoto – any gap at the Japanese squad would be filled.

He insisted: ''No, we're not going to replace Geoff in exactly that role.''