Honda cautious on upgrade and performance push in Canada

Honda technical director Toyoharu Tanabe is taking a cautious approach to the manufacturer's engine upgrade that will be rolled out in Canada next week.

Following three dismal years of under-performance and low reliability with McLaren, Honda has slowly but surely found its footing among its hybrid power unit rivals this season as it builds on its partnership with Toro Rosso.

While Toro Rosso's drivers are excited at the prospect of racing with a beefed up unit in Montreal, Tanabe says Honda is taking it one step at a time with reliability still at the forefront of its priorities.

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"So far it [reliability] looks stable but I think we need to be careful not push too hard on the performance. We need balance," Tanabe told Motorsport.com.

"We have a lot of things to do and not many short-term solutions, most are long-term. [If] we develop something and then apply it to the engine, we need to have a reliability test.

"Any tiny thing to improve the performance, we need time."

Toro Rosso's Pierre Gasly, who brought the Faenza-based outfit its only points so far, scoring in Bahrain and Monaco, admits he's excited by the upgrade although he won't put the cart before the horse.

"I’ll wait until FP1 to see exactly what the difference is on the computer," said the French rookie.

"I’ve learned that in Formula 1 it’s better to wait and see once you put the new parts on because sometimes it doesn’t work as well as you expect, sometimes it works better.

"But it can only go in the right direction, I think, so I’m really excited about this upgrade."

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