Fernando Alonso says the chasing pack are "trying to find the miracles" required to catch Mercedes.
Since the V6 turbo regulations were introduced at the start of 2014, Mercedes has dominated F1, taking 26 victories from the 31 races in that time. Honda returned to partner McLaren this year but has struggled for both performance and reliability, with the team currently having scored just 17 points.
When asked how realistic it is to expect Honda to be able to close the gap seeing as Mercedes is already focusing on its 2016 power unit, Alonso replied: “Well that’s the big challenge.
"As you said, the advantage Mercedes has now is quite big, but it’s the way it is. Always one team has dominated the sport, that’s always been the way it is. Now it’s Mercedes, Hamilton and Rosberg have the opportunity to fight for world championships and all the others are trying to find the miracles. That miracle hopefully will come from Japan.”
And Alonso admits he was expecting more from Honda this year, but he is still convinced he is in the best seat outside of Mercedes at present.
“Well it’s a matter of trust and confidence. Of course last year when we were at this point of the year and I decided to stop with Ferrari and join McLaren I did it basically because the project of the McLaren-Honda partnership again will succeed sooner or later. Obviously the situation of the performance we have this year is a little bit lower than the expectations we had last year at this time.
"But anyway, to beat Mercedes you need to do something different. Either you are in a Mercedes car or you are frustrated. It doesn't matter what the others will say, the people that are on the podium or the Williams cars who have podiums here and there, they cannot be happy. They are fourth, they are third, they are second, they are fifth … we are 16th, OK, but we want to be first and to be first I still believe I am in the right place for the future.”
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