Limited F1 engine market unhealthy, says Red Bull boss Horner

Red Bull and Toro Rosso are to , despite having contracts covering 2016, in the wake of the French manufacturer's troubles in F1's new 1.6-litre V6 turbo era.

Although Renault is set to return as a constructor next season , it would concentrate solely on its own programme.

Honda, meanwhile, has ruled out a supply until 2017 at the earliest, and then .

It means the majority of the teams are turning to Mercedes or Ferrari for power units, which is of concern to Horner.

"It's important for Formula 1 to have competitive engine manufacturers because what we're rapidly descending upon is two dominant engine suppliers and that ultimately isn't healthy for F1," he said.

"With the V8 you had three or four competitive engines that were capable of winning.

"Now you've only got two engines that are capable of winning races on merit, and that's not particularly healthy."

Inside F1's 2016 engine market

Volkswagen continues to be linked with a move into F1, with rumours over the Singapore Grand Prix weekend of a potential takeover of Red Bull, which Horner denied.

Although VW's entry would be welcomed, Horner feels that it would be several years away given the complexities of the current engine formula, highlighted by Renault and Honda's difficulties.

"I think it's great VW has been showing an interest in Formula 1, but it's all pure speculation at the moment," added Horner.

"Even if they were to decide to come into F1, you're looking minimum - within the current framework of regulations - of two to three years away at least to be able to produce a competitive engine."

Suggested to Horner a possible VW entry in 2018 would be pointless given the current engine formula ends in '20, he replied: "I don't think anybody knows what 2020 and beyond is at the moment.

"It's too far ahead to be thinking about that."

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- The Autosport.com Team

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