Horner: The product we have at the moment is not fantastic

Horner said in an interview last month, "To attract sponsors you have to have an attractive product. Unless you have an attractive product, sponsors don't come. There are a lot of bare cars out there. We have been able to attract brands because of what we do off track as well as on-track."

"F1 is not in anywhere near as rude health as it was 20 years ago when teams were making profits. There were some great brands on the cars. You only have to compare an end-of-season drivers photo from let's pick 1997 to 2017, and you will see the volume of companies involved is significantly less."

"We have got to create a more attractive show to draw in sponsors that offer tremendous value from what F1 is."

And he admitted that attracting new sponsorship money is tougher than it was a decade or so ago,"I'd say it is harder now, yes, because there is more choice as the world evolves."

"There are more platforms and the product that we have at the moment is not fantastic. A race like [Abu Dhabi] is not the best advert for F1. We are better than that, F1 is better than that. OK it is only one chapter in twenty – there has been some great racing – but you always have to learn," added Horner.