From GMM

Jenson Button has agreed to cut his 2009 retainer in half as the Honda team survives the withdrawal of the Japanese manufacturer.

A management buyout headed by Ross Brawn has apparently been green-lighted by the carmaker's Tokyo board, but it will mean a drastically reduced budget this season.

The Daily Telegraph in Britain claims up to 300 of the 700 Brackley based staff will be shed, while 29-year-old Button voluntarily cuts his contracted $15m salary for this season in two.

Some of the Brackley staff, however, are reportedly unhappy with the Brawn buyout and prepared to strike.

If Honda had folded the team, the manufacturer would have dished out healthy severance packages, while under the Brawn deal, many staff will still be shed but not compensated as handsomely.

Those surviving the job cuts face pay cuts, the Telegraph added.

With the new management buyout set to be announced, the latest speculation is that the Brackley camp would prefer the unmatched experience of Rubens Barrichello alongside Jenson Button.

Previously, the 36-year-old's rookie countryman Bruno Senna was linked most strongly to the team, but it now appears that his sponsorship ties to Brazilian sponsors were not as lucrative as earlier was reported.

The team currently known as Honda will return to action at a Silverstone shakedown of its 2009 car next Thursday, sources from inside the Brackley factory are reporting.

With the Honda board also insisting upon a name change, the frontrunner at present is 'Brackley F1', but a final decision on this has not been taken.

The funds for the team this year will come from increased and advanced FOM income, commercial sponsors, and Honda itself, who have concluded that it is cheaper to offload the squad as a going concern rather than fund the closure and compensate contracted staff, including the very highly paid Button.