At a time attention was firmly fixed on Red Bull's relationship with Renault, though giving away little, certainly in terms of the French manufacturer, Christian Horner did broadly hint as what he perceives to be the future for his team.

"It's already there, it's already on the car," he said in Singapore.

With today's confirmation of its title sponsorship of the Austrian team, attention has naturally turned to whether Aston Martin might go a step further and supply power plants from 2021.

"We like Formula One, it is good for our brand," Aston Martin CEO, Andy Palmer told the official F1 website. "As Valkyrie - our cooperation with Red Bull - is evolving, how can we leverage not just the supercar but also the involvement of Formula One technology in that car?

"Naturally there is a propensity trying to do more with them," he continues. "How much is subject to negotiations...

"On the other hand, for 2021 there is a potentially rule change in engine. We are an engine maker and if the rules change sufficiently that it makes sense - that the costs come down so that a company like us can afford to do an engine - we'd like to do the engine," he admits. "We would like to be the provider of an independent engine to F1 with our principal customer, that, of course, being our friends at Red Bull. And between these two things draw the line. Today we are a sponsor and innovations partner - maybe this will grow a bit, but to what extent depends on the direction that F1 takes."

When it is pointed out that usually companies enter F1 because someone at the top has an affinity for the sport, he admits: "I have been a fan of Formula One ever since my Dad took me to Silverstone when I was about four years old.

"But coming into F1 shouldn't be an emotional decision," he continues, "it should be a business decision. And the business decision for us is telling a story: that it is a beautiful product, handmade, British, and state-of-the-art technology... a piece of art.

"Valkyrie is taking Formula One technology and taking it to the road. That has a washdown effect onto the rest of the cars. So it's not about me loving Formula One - I love Formula One - but in a season you get viewed by 550 million people - and that is a lot of people. And some of these people will get influenced at some point to buy your car. This was clearly valued in the IPO of Ferrari - so there is a value. Running Aston Martin, I have to add value to the company and what we do with Formula One will help the storytelling and ultimately help add value to the company."

Asked about the inevitable link to James Bond, a link that goes back to 1964 and the third movie in the franchise, Goldfinger, he laughs.

"James Bond is great. We love it. But you can't be defined only by being in a movie. In some places in the world - especially those new territories for us - sometimes we are over defined by James Bond. Our history - our DNA - goes back to racing. Aston Martin is Lionel Martin racing at Aston Hill. Even in our name we have racing.

"We love WEC racing - and will continue to do that - but Formula One takes it all to a different level, particularly in places like China - and to some extent the United States.

"F1 is a relatively small sport in the States, but it is still a lot of people. You see it with Ferrari. Ferrari is defined by Formula One. So what about a company that is also defined by Formula One, also defined by Le Mans - and defined by James Bond? Actually we have three pillars of storytelling instead of just one!"