Honda is keeping a close eye on Renault's power unit upgrade as it sees the French manufacturer as its closest current rival.

Renault has introduced a B-spec power unit at the Monaco Grand Prix, with Daniel Ricciardo getting the upgrade for Red Bull while Kevin Magnussen has it in the works car. Honda's head of F1 project Yusuke Hasegawa told F1i following the power unit's first test in Barcelona that it is closely monitoring the progress made by Renault.

With Renault also trying to close the gap to Mercedes and Ferrari, when asked if it provides Honda with a good benchmark, Hasegawa replied: “Yeah I think so, at this moment.

“Of course if they upgrade [the power unit] then it could give us a huge shock because currently it’s fair to say McLaren-Honda is a little bit quicker than the Renault, but if their upgrade makes them overtake us then we need to respond with something.”

The McLaren has looked competitive during practice sessions at a number of races this year but then struggled in qualifying, with Fernando Alonso saying the team's rivals make a bigger step forward on a Saturday. Hasegawa views it as the opposite problem, with other teams being able to run comfortable under 100% during practice sessions.

“I think it’s vice versa. It’s because they have more power they have room to downgrade the power for practice. We are also using some practice modes on Friday but because our maximum power is not strong enough the drivers would complain that there is too low power! Of course we are also using low power on a Friday.”

Daniil Kvyat exclusive: Time to think about life after Red Bull

Romain Grosjean column: 'I want Jules to always be with us'

Silbermann says ... Easyjet-set

Chris Medland's 2016 Monaco Grand Prix preview

Keep up to date with all the F1 news via Facebook and Twitter

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.

Recent Posts

Bearman gives harsh verdict on Sao Paulo stand-in

Oliver Bearman got quite the early morning wake-up call on Friday in Sao Paulo when…

2 hours ago

Red Bull still 'looking at the facts' regarding Perez's performance

While his team mate Max Verstappen thrilled the fans with a run from 17th on…

4 hours ago

Sad Colapinto laments two crashes in one day in Sao Paulo

Williams suffered a bruising time on Sunday in Sao Paulo, with Alex Albon unable to…

5 hours ago

McLaren: No regrets over timing of Norris pit stop in Sao Paulo GP

McLaren team principal Andrea Stella has insisted that the squad has no regrets about their…

7 hours ago

Williams' Boutsen hoists the mainsail in Adelaide

On this day in 1989, Williams' Thierry Boutsen secured his second F1 win when he…

8 hours ago

Horner: Max 'answered critics' with epic Sao Paulo GP drive

Red Bull team principal Christian Horner hailed Max Verstappen’s sensational Sao Paulo Grand Prix victory…

9 hours ago