Mexican billionaire denies offer to purchase Honda Formula One team

MEXICO CITY -- The Telmex racing team owned by Carlos Slim has denied reports the Mexican billionaire will buy Honda's flailing Formula One outfit.

The Telmex team said in a statement that Slim "has not bought, nor is negotiating to buy, the Honda Formula 1 team, and thus all reports in that sense are baseless and completely false."

The statement was posted on the team's web site Sunday.

The Italian daily La Stampa reported Saturday that Slim planned to buy the Honda team after the Japanese automaker announced earlier this month it was pulling out of F1 racing because of the escalating crisis in the automobile industry.

Telmex races in Formula 3 and other series.