Red Bull will be pushing Honda 'for more' in second half

Red Bull wants more performance from Honda in the second half of the season, and team boss Christian Horner is confident its engine partner will deliver.

Honda's association with Red Bull is a stark contrast to the troubled, distraught period endured by the Japanese manufacturer with McLaren.

A switch to Toro Rosso in 2018 for a quiet year of stabilization and development paved the way for bolder ambitions with Red Bull.

With reliability in check, Honda secured its first podium of the hybrid era in Melbourne with Red Bull's Max Verstappen, ramping up its performance thereafter to eventually hit first target: an outright win.

The milestone came in Austria, once again thanks to Verstappen and to the progress achieved by Red Bull's RB15.

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While the feat surpassed the team's expectations, Horner insists he'll be "pushing for more" from Honda in the coming weeks.

"This season was always going to be a transitionary year, with a new engine partner coming on stream and the whole marriage and integration that is involved, " said the Brit.

"That has exceeded internal expectations, in terms of by race nine we have a win and we have had a couple of podiums.

"Reliability has been strong – we still have all three engines available to use (per driver). They have only introduced new engines based on performance increments.

"We’re pushing for more in the second half of the year, which they have in the pipeline."

Needless to say, Honda's return to the winner's circle will have been the perfect incentive for the manufacturer's tenacious management and personnel.

"It was a very emotive win for Honda in Austria," said Horner.

"Some of their board members were there and they are starting to see, after all those painful years with McLaren, that the investment is paying off.

"Reliability has been strong – we still have all three engines available to use (per driver). They have only introduced new engines based on performance increments.

"We’re pushing for more in the second half of the year, which they have in the pipeline. Now they have tasted success and they see the benefit that success brings.

"After the difficulty of their reintroduction back into F1, the victory was the tonic they needed."

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