Talks about Toro Rosso taking on Honda power for 2018 have fallen through, according to reports in the Italian press.
Prior to the summer break, rumours were rife that the junior Red Bull-owned team could take over from Sauber as a Honda ’customer’ for 2018.
"After several weeks, the negotiations have stopped for financial reasons," the Italian source Autosprint claimed.
"It is no mystery that to make the Japanese power unit attractive, it would be about the financial contribution that a manufacturer like Honda could bring."
Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera agreed that Toro Rosso has said ’no’ to Honda.
"It (the Toro Rosso deal) would also have been a test-bench for a possible change of direction for Red Bull as well, but now everything has collapsed," it said.
"It seems that Red Bull asked for too much money.
"Now, if McLaren leaves, Honda will be automatically out of formula one."
According to former Pirelli F1 chief Paul Hembery, Honda’s struggle since returning in 2015 is a reason for the sport to rethink its strategy.
"We have to decide: is F1 a series for manufacturers or for teams?" he told Auto Motor und Sport.
"If we want the manufacturers, they must be competitive rather than afraid of ridicule and damage to their brand.
"At the moment we have two manufacturers having trouble with their engines, which is not good for the sport," said Hembery.