Honda insist they still have faith in Jenson Button despite another disappointing Formula One campaign.
The Briton, who is out of contract at the end of the year, collected just three points in 2008 and has won just one Grand Prix in more than 150 races.
But Honda chief executive Nick Fry told BBC Sport's Olly Foster: "Jenson is an immensely talented driver.
"I am absolutely convinced that if we, at Honda, give him the car that can do the job he can compete with Lewis."
Honda have already announced they plan to give Bruno Senna, the nephew of F1 legend Ayrton Senna, the chance to test one of their cars in Barcelona at the end of the month.
"It is Formula One, everyone is under pressure to retain their position... the drivers are no different from any other person in the team""I'm sure he will do a great job," said Fry. "He's a prospective candidate."
Fry also revealed that another, as yet, unnamed driver will also get a runout as they look to finalise their driver line-up for 2009.
"We are not hurrying to choose our drivers for next year," added Fry. "We can afford to wait until possibly just before Christmas."
Button is not the only Honda driver out of contract at the end of the year. Team-mate Rubens Barrichello, who picked up just 11 points in 2008, could also be looking for another drive for 2009 and beyond.
"It is Formula One, everyone is under pressure to retain their position," said Fry.
"The drivers are no different from any other person in the team. They've got to deliver the results and the best people will get the race seats."
But Fry, who revealed Honda had been keen on luring former world champion Fernando Alonso from Renault, admitted both Button and Barrichello were hampered by an uncompetitive car.
"We deliberately had a strategy of not doing much to this year's car, investing all our resources in next year," he said.
"As a result we knew we were going to get worse during the course of the year. That's exactly what happened. The car was weak."
With former Ferrari technical director Ross Brawn now in the Honda camp, Fry said he was confident there would be a revival in 2009.
"He has invested all this year making sure we have the best possible year next year," said Fry.
"We've really gone for it inside the company in terms of deploying resources for next year.
"Motivation in the team has been huge because they can see what's happening for next year. I'm sure you are going to see us take a big step forward next year."
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