McLaren Executive Director Zak Brown is confident the British team can cope with the financial fallout from ending their engine partnership with Honda, as a new deal with Renault appears imminent.

As well as their engines, the Japanese manufacturer put a large amount of money on the table when the two parties re-collaborated in 2015 with some putting the figure at around $100m and the cost of Fernando Alonso.

That financial benefit is partly why McLaren has remained strong despite their lack of competitiveness in recent seasons which has led to a reduction in their prize money income, however, for Brown, the loss of that partnership revenue is now worth accepting if better results can be achieved elsewhere.

"We can't afford not to be on the podium," Brown said. "It's a big decision that has lots of elements to it, and economics is one.

"Fortunately we have extremely committed shareholders that we can make a sporting decision and deal with the economics. We're not financially challenged. We can navigate any financial situation."

The result of the Renault switch, which now appears certain following the news Carlos Sainz is set to join the French manufacturer as part of the deal that will see them swap Toro Rosso for McLaren, is a loss of that financial boost and the cost of buying engines from Renault. 

However, Brown has also previously stated that the poor performance on track has hit the McLaren brand and the attractiveness of the team to potential sponsors, therefore, should the result turnaround, they could recoup some of the large loss.

Another factor is also paying the salary of Alonso, who looks set to renew his contract for at least another season. Still regarded as one of the best on the grid, the Spaniard doesn't come cheap and McLaren will now have to fit the full cost. 

Commenting on his future earlier in the week, amid the Renault rumours, the double world champion would claim his decision was not engine based.

"We will see what happens. There are some options out there and I need to look at all of them and make a decision," Alonso said. "I don’t think that will happen before Singapore and the team’s engine decision won’t be the most important thing. 

"There is always news that is important: the news about LMP1 rules is important; the new IndyCar aero kit is important; Andretti staying with Honda is important news; what engine McLaren will have is important news – there was much important news."

Daniel Ricciardo is targeting going one better than he did at the Singapore Grand Prix in 2016, believing the night race offers Red Bull their "best chance" for a victory in the final seven races.

The Australian is already a race winner this season after taking advantage of the chaotic events of the last city race in Baku and the Anglo-Austrian team is known to prefer the higher downforce tracks and particularly Marina Bay, where they have won three times in the past. 

Last year Ricciardo came up just shy of victory, as a late charge to catch Nico Rosberg following a late pit-stop saw him arguably come up a lap short and he sees no reason why Red Bull can't be as strong again this year.

“I believe Singapore won’t be our only chance but is one of our best chances of a win in the second half of the season,” he claimed. “You have to build up speed a little slower in the practice sessions on a street circuit like Singapore. At some point, you have to start taking risks but to do that straight away doesn’t make sense.

“I’ve started second and finished second at this track in the last two years, with the fastest lap both times, so my aim this year is definitely to start on pole and try to go one better in the race.”

The often two-hour race in the hot and humid conditions of the South-East Asian city-state is among the hardest of the year for the drivers and particularly the cars. That means reliability could well be a factor and one driver who suffered more than most is Max Verstappen.

The Dutchman has a good record around the street circuit, however, and is desperate to add to his only top three finish of the year, which came all the way back in China.

“I’m looking forward to getting to Singapore as it’s always a special weekend," he said. "The race has been a strong one for us in the past and I think we should be able to challenge for a podium this year.” “The track itself has a lot of corners which is why I enjoy driving there and like most street circuits it’s pretty bumpy which makes it even more challenging.”

“The track itself has a lot of corners which is why I enjoy driving there and like most street circuits it’s pretty bumpy which makes it even more challenging.”

Carlos Sainz has signed a contract that could see him join Renault from as soon as the Malaysian Grand Prix it has emerged, with the move part of a deal that will see McLaren use the French manufacturer's engines from next season.

The report by Autosport follows comments by Red Bull Motorsport Advisor Helmut Marko earlier this week which hinted at movement behind the scenes when he claimed the Spaniard's future with Toro Rosso was not 100 percent guaranteed.

The Austrian drinks company had been determined to retain Sainz as back up in case either Daniel Ricciardo or Max Verstappen decided to leave the senior team in the future, however, with Renault wanting an incentive to swap their engine deal from Toro Rosso to McLaren for 2018, the 22-year-old, who was subject to interest from Renault last year, was the carrot that appears to have been taken. 

The report suggested Sainz could make the switch as soon as Sepang in three weeks time, however, that depends on whether Renault is prepared to ditch Jolyon Palmer, a driver that Managing Director Cyril Abiteboul has backed throughout the year.

As for where this leaves Toro Rosso, the Italian team are now set to take over the engine partnership with Honda from next year and potentially secure current Formula 2 driver and Honda junior driver Nobuhara Matsushita.  

That is dependent on whether the Japanese driver can close the 37-point gap to third in the F2 standings, the position he needs to finish to amass enough superlicence points to compete in F1.  

If not, then Red Bull junior Pierre Gasly will likely get the call-up, with the Frenchman racing in Super Formula this season as he waits for his opportunity in F1 after claiming the GP2 crown last year.

The situation could also offer a little insight into the future of Fernando Alonso with Sainz considered the main option to replace the double world champion if he decided to leave. 

Earlier this week, many pointed out changes on Alonso's social media pages which seemed to end all associations with Honda and now as McLaren-Renault in 2018 seems all-but-certain, that activity would indicate he will renew for at least another season.

It also rules out a return for Robert Kubica, at least with the Enstone team, despite a promising test following the Hungarian Grand Prix earlier in the year.

Mercedes admit they expect the fight for victory to be much more difficult at next weekend's Singapore Grand Prix with Ferrari and Red Bull set to be much more competitive despite their dominant 1-2 at Monza.

The defending world champions head into the final seven flyaways leading both championships for the first time this season, as three wins in four races saw Lewis Hamilton overhaul Sebastian Vettel in the Drivers' standings.

Yet his lead could last for all of two weeks as the streets of Marina Bay have proven a difficult challenge for Mercedes to master, even when they have had the significant performance advantage of recent years.

"Singapore wasn’t the best of all places for us in the past, we were extremely delighted to win the race last year as we had such a difficult time in 2015," Motorsport boss Toto Wolff reminisced.

With the margin across the top three teams perhaps the smallest it has been since the start of the V6 hybrid era, any problems Mercedes face again this year could well lead to a repeat of two years ago, where an inability to optimise tyres left them struggling behind their two rivals.

Either way, Ferrari has had better pace on non-power demanding circuits this year and in hot conditions, while Red Bull continues to make strong chassis gains and showed great strength under braking at Monza, which is also crucial around the Singapore track.

Mercedes acknowledge this, however, Wolff claims the team will not be giving up easily even if little appears to be in their favour.

"You can see this year slow twisty circuits have rather suited Red Bull and Ferrari, and lots of high-speed downforce was good for our car," he claimed. "Now, I don’t think that is a pattern you can’t break, it’s about understanding your car, the more we clock mileage, the more we learn about it, nevertheless I still expect it to be a more difficult weekend for us than Monza, or Spa, Silverstone, because of those characteristics but we will try to understand it in the best possible way."

Hamilton's previous record in Singapore is patchy with two wins but also three retirements and the Briton couldn’t but accept the facts presented by his team boss when looking ahead to the race.

"I will do all the due diligence it’s possible to make sure that we arrive there best prepared," he stated. “We have no idea until we get there what the picture’s going to look like but I think we learned a lot from the past but on a hot track, Ferrari is often better in hot places.

"I think we’ll be able to give them a good race," he insisted. "I think the car is continuing to improve and as I said, our understanding of the car is beginning to… it’s constantly improving. Perhaps if we went back to Hungary for example, maybe we would be in a better position today with the knowledge of being there already.

"I go and approach it with a real positive mindset that we are going to be fighting for a win but if that’s not the case when we get there we’ll just take it at face value and try to get damage limitation, I guess."

Red Bull Team Principal Christian Horner has suggested Honda and current supplier Renault may never close the engine performance gap to Mercedes and Ferrari during the current engine formula.

The pecking order between the four suppliers has not changed since the introduction of the current V6 hybrids in 2014 and that has been the main reason for Mercedes' continued success and Red Bull's ongoing struggles.

Although the gap between them has shrunk, as the technology is still immature the room for development remains large for all and that means the likelihood of the units finally settling at around the same level in the short-to-medium term is small.

Indeed, for the first time, Horner has acknowledged his and other teams not using the class-leading engines may have to wait for the new rules in 2021 before they can consider competing at the very front.

"We'll never accept that we can't be competitive so we'll keep pushing and keep developing and try and make up whatever horsepower deficit there is on the chassis side," the Red Bull team said talking to Sky Sports F1.

"But the reality is, those two manufacturers [Ferrari and Mercedes] have such a march, such committed investment, it's difficult to see how the others will catch up in the intervening period between now and 2021."

So influential are the engines in determining performance, McLaren is considering ending their re-collaboration with Honda after just three years as the Japanese manufacturer can't reach a level that allows the British team to fight where their chassis deserves. 

Though it is thought Red Bull junior team Toro Rosso will become their sole customer should they decide to divorce, it is this complexity and inability to be competitive that has kept several big names away.  

For the engines being considered for 2021, however, that wider interest is back with several names mentioned but there remains a debate as to just how road relevant and efficient the new formula should be.  

"We may well [lose manufacturers] but I think there are iconic manufacturers who would be keen to come in if it was affordable," said Horner, referring to another key issue that is trying to be addressed.

"Aston Martin is one of them, Lamborghini attending meetings. So long as you have Ferrari there, so long as you have historic teams like McLaren and Williams and so on, and other manufacturers like those I've mentioned were to come in. I think it's all about the spectacle.

"Manufacturers have always come and gone in F1 whenever it's suited them. I think the most important thing is to get the product right, get the show right, and then it's up to the manufacturers to be there or not."

Sauber Team Principal Fred Vasseur has claimed the design for the 2018 car will feature "less than 20 percent" of their current contender as the Swiss team look to return to competitiveness.

Throughout the European season, Sauber has continued to slip further and further behind the midfield as they have become the perennial backmarkers on the grid due to the effects of last year's financial problems and the new owners looking to rebuild the Hinwil operation.

Furthermore, their development has been stumped by the now long out-dated 2016 Ferrari engine as well as delays when bringing new parts to a car that was already quite some way behind due to their late start.

Hopes for a recovery next year are reasonable, as they will use the most up to date power unit from their long-time partners following a new deal that was following a cancelled contract with Honda, and respected designer Jorg Zander is in charge having arrived last year.

"The car is already in the windtunnel and I think we are doing a decent job," Vasseur, who replaced Monisha Kaltenborn earlier this summer claimed. "We are still discussing the parameters of the Ferrari collaboration, but [the carry over from this year will] probably be less than 20%.

"The current one [car] is 2016 so to try and carry over to 2018... we have to start from scratch. It's also the reason the car [has] long [been] in the windtunnel. The global picture of the car will be completely different."

It is believed Sauber will be welcoming at least one of Ferrari's young drivers for next year as part of their engine deal but whether Charles Leclerc, Antonio Giovinazzi or both will get the chance to prove themselves in the midfield is hard to know.

"It's always difficult to have a target because it will depend on the guys around us on the grid," Vasseur claimed. "It will be difficult to come back into the midfield. It's a big step and there is no big change in the regulations for next year.

"All the other teams will have much better carryover than us. For me, the biggest challenge will be to increase the size of the company, to increase the performance of each department.

"If we're able to do this, we will improve on the grid. The group in front of us is very close, I want to come back into the fight."

Sauber Team Principal Fred Vasseur has admitted talks will take place with Charles Leclerc over a seat in 2018 but believes it is still "too early" as the Monegasque looks to wrap up the F2 title.

The 19-year-old has regularly been linked to a drive with the Swiss team next season following the re-signing of an engine deal with Ferrari after an initial contract with Honda has been cancelled.

Later, it was reported the Scuderia had aspirations of seeing Sauber become a de facto junior team but Vasseur claims nothing has no talks have yet taken place to move in that direction.

"The deal is based on the powertrain, which means it’s the engine and the gearbox and then we will discuss together the fact that we could extend the deal on another parameter for some other parts," the Frenchman said of the Ferrari partnership.

"On the driver point of view, regarding Charles, I think he has to be focused on the Formula 2 Championship. [There are] still a couple of races to go and it’s a bit too early to discuss this.

"I hope we will have the discussion at some stage but I think, to be honest, even for Charles it’s a bit too early to put it on the table."

Leclerc currently sits 59 points clear of his nearest challenger Oliver Rowland in the rebranded series with two rounds and four races left in Jerez next month and Abu Dhabi in November.

Though it would seem unlikely that is a lead last year's GP3 champion will let slip, his manager Nicholas Todt, echoed Vasseur that finishing the job must be the first task at hand.

“It’s clear that Charles is an exceptional driver,” he said in an interview with French TV channel Canal+. “His first objective is to win the Formula 2 championship this year, an accomplishment which few have achieved in their first year in the series."

But the son of current FIA President Jean Todt and manager to several current F1 drivers admits it would be a tragedy if he didn't move up regardless of the final outcome.

“I can’t tell you if he’ll be there [in F1] but I’m rather confident. Given his results in F2 there’s no reason he shouldn’t be in F1 in 2018,” he added.

Team Principal Christian Horner is sure Red Bull had the second fastest car behind Mercedes in all conditions during the Italian Grand Prix weekend at Monza.

Typically, the Temple of Speed wouldn't be expected to suit the Milton Keynes outfit due to the power deficit of their TAG Heuer-branded Renault engine but that wasn't the case as the RB13 starred in the rain on Saturday as Max Verstappen was second and Daniel Ricciardo third.

Substantial grid penalties would drop them down outside the top 10, but both would blitz the field in the race as Ricciardo went from 16th to fourth just four seconds off the podium and Verstappen recovered from being over a minute down and last after Lap 3 to finish 10th.

Contrast that to Ferrari who struggled in the tricky conditions in qualifying before Sebastian Vettel finished 36 seconds behind Lewis Hamilton on Sunday with the charging Australian between himself and teammate Kimi Raikkonen.

"It is an interesting one," Horner said looking back on the race, "the cars performed very well here. In Saturday's conditions in the wet, which is always a great equalizer, but again, better than expected, the car performed very strongly in the race today.

"Analysis will show it was the second strongest car outside of the Mercedes. To start as far behind the Ferraris as we did and only be four seconds behind Sebastian at the finish, was a very encouraging performance.

"Listening to the drivers in the debrief, it is still obvious where we lack in terms of lap time when following our competitors, but the chassis has worked at this particular circuit very well."

Red Bull has had some extra development time with the low downforce setup required for a circuit like Monza, having run similar wings in both Baku and Spa but Horner pinpointed to a different area where the Red Bull car was particularly strong.

"You can see how strong it was on the brakes, particularly with Daniel this weekend," he said. "The pass he made on Kimi was from an awfully long way back, so we have found a good balance here."

Regardless, the Briton admitted no team was capable of matching the Silver Arrows as they enjoyed their most dominant weekend of the season so far.

"Mercedes at this circuit were in a class of their own," Horner stated. "Any debate about where the current power hierarchy is in F1 ... this was a Mercedes whitewash."

McLaren will be looking to repeat their performance from Hungary and finish 'best of the rest' behind Mercedes, Ferrari and Red Bull at the Singapore Grand Prix, according to Stoffel Vandoorne.

Much like Budapest, the street circuit layout is one of the least power-demanding of the year meaning the underperforming Honda engine isn't such a weakness as the track will represent a big test for the McLaren chassis and where it stands in the pecking order.

The big concern remains reliability with both Vandoorne and teammate Fernando Alonso retiring at Monza, although the Belgian driver will be hoping to build on the positive signs from the race in Italy and optimise the opportunity Singapore should create.

"In terms of the performance of our package on track, and from my personal side too, I think it was a very strong weekend considering the layout of Monza, and the straight line speed deficit we know we have," Vandoorne said speaking after the Italian race to Motorsport.com. "To be able to run in the top 10 in practice and to make it through to Q3 was a great result.

"Coming from the back of the grid, my start was very good. I gained three or four places in the first lap and then gained a few other places on the opening laps. We were actually going quite strong, and following the Toro Rosso, the Red Bull and the Haas on track. I felt we were quicker than them, but it was just very difficult to overtake."

Significant news is expected on the engine front, with a decision for 2018 anticipated before next weekend's race. Having both cars retire yet again probably didn't help Honda in their efforts to save the McLaren partnership, but the former GP2 champion is confident no grid penalties should be incurred.

"It appears that the failure does not mean a penalty for the next race in Singapore because I think we can change the parts," he claimed. "So everything should be fine with the engine, and that is positive for Singapore because we want to have a trouble-free weekend.

"I think Singapore will be a good opportunity for us to score some good points, but we need to remember there are two Mercedes, two Ferrari and two Red Bulls that will still be in front of us. So we just need to work hard and then I think we can emerge as the fourth team in Singapore."

FIA President Jean Todt has ruled out the possibility of a new team joining the Formula 1 grid in the foreseeable future despite reported efforts by a Chinese consortium for an entry as soon as 2019.

It was understood the group was hiring employees for their venture and had registered under the name of China F1 Racing Team Limited with Company House in the UK, where it is set to be based.

However, before a new entry is allowed, their application must be vetted by the governing body, who introduced more strict criteria following the collapse of all three teams that joined in 2010.

Commenting on whether any new outfit was being considered, Todt revealed in Monza: "[There is] not something I would describe as a very serious offer. When we see there a serious offer, as we did when Haas came to Formula 1, we understood there was some serious interest so we created a tender."

The demise of Manor at the beginning of the year meant the grid returned to just 20 cars, the number most see as the minimum, however, the Frenchman defended the quality of the current field, despite the significant gap between the top three and the rest.