Minardi does not see Honda in F1 for very long

A cloud is hanging over McLaren-Honda at present, causing more than one pundit to wonder about the future of the Anglo-Japanese collaboration.

Former F1 team owner Gian Carlo Minardi told Il Giornale: "The (Honda's) technical gap is significant and it is hard to see the improvements coming. At the moment I do not see a future for them in formula one after 2016."

Honda CEO Takahiro Hachigo, however, sounds committed, even though he admits the Japanese carmaker has found the challenge of the new power unit era "fiercer than expected".

"We understand it is not an easy task, and we should not expect a radical change in our performance in the near future, but we remain dedicated to achieving the first win with this team and we will continue to make our best efforts with McLaren to achieve better results and success in the future," he added.

That is because Bernie Ecclestone has scheduled the inaugural race in Azerbaijan next year to clash with the fabled endurance sports car race, which earlier this year was won by Force India driver Nico Hulkenberg.