Honda not ready to commit to 2021 - Marko
"They wait until the new regulations are on the table"
Honda is not yet committed to Formula 1 beyond 2020.
That is the claim of Dr Helmut Marko, a top official at Red Bull.
He admits that Honda still has work to do to catch Ferrari and Mercedes, even though ExxonMobil introduced an innovative new fuel for the Japanese carmaker’s ’spec 4’ engine at Suzuka.
"In qualifying we are still clearly behind, especially Ferrari," he told Auto Motor und Sport.
"We lost eight tenths to them on the straights. But in the race we are about equal to Mercedes," he said.
As for Honda’s future beyond 2020, Marko admits that is clouded at present.
"They are waiting until the new regulations are on the table," he said. "Then they will analyse everything and decide."
Marko admitted that reducing costs for the engine manufacturers will be a "very important" aspect of that analysis.
"If it does not get cheaper, there will be hardly anyone left," he said.
But he thinks it would be premature to ’freeze’ engine development at the moment.
"Freezing only works when everybody is at the same level," said Marko. "At the moment, Ferrari drives away from everyone in qualifying, including Mercedes."
Red Bull
Wolff: All the stories about Kimi Antonelli do him no good
Ferrari to test Imola-spec upgrade before next race
Horner: No concerns about the ’strength and depth’ of Red Bull’s personnel setup
McLaren needs another big upgrade to catch Red Bull
More on Red Bull
Honda
Honda would ’welcome’ Yuki Tsunoda to Aston Martin
Aston Martin already has 2026 F1 ’head-start’ - report
Tsunoda at Aston Martin would be ’great’ - Honda
Honda hard at work on 2026 engine for Aston Martin
Red Bull, Honda, not denying new Tsunoda rumours
More on Honda