Categories: F1 News, Reports and Race ResultsHonda

Honda doesn't expect progress to slow yet

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Honda motorsport boss Yasuhisa Arai wants McLaren to be able to target regular points in upcoming races before chasing podium finishes.

Jenson Button finished eighth in the Monaco Grand Prix to score McLaren’s first points of 2015, giving Honda its first top ten finish since it returned as engine supplier at the start of this season. Arai says it was important for McLaren to capitalise on the opportunity in Monaco and doesn’t see Honda’s progress slowing any time soon.

“I feel that we have started, finally,” Arai said. “That’s my feeling.

“Every race we will take step by step and I hope the next races will show more progress. Finally we can catch up and score some good places and go to the podium. That’s what I wish and maybe we can do it.”

With both Button and team-mate Fernando Alonso running in the top ten before the latter retired, Arai highlights the engine driveability as the area where Honda made the biggest gains ahead of Monaco.

“We made it very suitable and appropriate in terms of driveability for the special Monaco race track. Horsepower is not so important, especially wide open throttle. Using partial throttle is a very sensitive area and we made good driveability for Jenson and Fernando, they got a good feeling.

“In the race, especially in the first half, there was very good pace for both drivers but unfortunately Fernando had some issues. Jenson had a good race for us and I’m very happy.”

Click here for a look at some of the best quotes from the Monaco Grand Prix weekend

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Andrew Lewin

Andrew first became a fan of Formula 1 during the time when Michael Schumacher and Damon Hill were stepping into the limelight after the era of Alain Prost, Nigel Mansell and Aryton Senna. He's been addicted ever since, and has been writing about the sport now for nearly a quarter of a century for a number of online news sites. He's also written professionally about GP2 (now Formula 2), GP3, IndyCar, World Rally Championship, MotoGP and NASCAR. In his other professional life, Andrew is a freelance writer, social media consultant, web developer/programmer, and digital specialist in the fields of accessibility, usability, IA, online communities and public sector procurement. He worked for many years in magazine production at Bauer Media, and for over a decade he was part of the digital media team at the UK government's communications department. Born and raised in Essex, Andrew currently lives and works in south-west London.