Honda Racing Corporation President Koji Watanabe is confirming that talks over the company’s protege’s future remain ongoing.

“Regarding this year’s contract with Tsunoda, negotiations are ongoing, so no specific agreement has been finalised yet,” he confirmed.

“The negotiations are not with Tsunoda himself, but with Red Bull.”

“Depending on the terms Red Bull proposes, the scope within which Honda can utilise Tsunoda will change… I believe that scenario is possible.

Regarding questions whether Honda will field a junior driver at Aston Martin as part of the deal, Watanabe denied this:

“There are no such plans as yet,” he confirmed. “I expect we will continue to coordinate various programmes with Aston Martin, but at this point there is nothing we have agreed upon that says, ‘Let’s do this right now’.

“Therefore, at this point, we will continue to nurture drivers up to F2 within the HFDP, Honda’s own programme, and if any drivers emerge who are capable of driving in F1, we will recommend them to Aston Martin.”