Brawn still interested in Ferrari - 2nd May 18:07pm GMT

Former Ferrari technical director Ross Brawn has made clear that he favours a return to the Italian team over Formula One rivals when he completes a sabbatical at the end of the year.

"I have had a few phone calls from different people and I've told them the same," the Briton told Autosport magazine in an interview.

"I won't enter any discussions with anybody until my situation is clear at Ferrari.

"Once I know my position in July, if there is no solution at Ferrari and I do want to get back in, I'll see what opportunities are around," he added.

Brawn, the tactical mastermind behind Michael Schumacher's seven championships with Benetton and Ferrari, took a sabbatical last October after the German driver had announced his retirement.

British-based Honda, without a point in three races this season, have openly expressed an interest in securing his services.

However most Formula One insiders expect Brawn to return to Ferrari, moving into a team leadership or management role rather than as a technical director.

"I have a lot of allegiances with Ferrari, there's no doubt," said Brawn.

"If we find a nice solution there, if we find something that they would like me to do and something that I would find a challenge, I would be delighted because they are a great group of people.

"I'm not sure I'd just want to go back to what I was doing before," he added. "Plus, other people have moved into that role and are clearly doing a very good job. It would be unfair for me to go back into that role.

"So it could be a different role within Ferrari or it could be a similar role I played at Ferrari when I arrived, which was a restructuring one."