Honda admits Spa ‘won’t suit us’

Honda's head of F1 project Yusuke Hasegawa admits Spa-Francorchamps ‘won’t suit us’ but still hopes recent progress will help partner team McLaren be in the mix for points at this weekend’s Belgian Grand Prix.

With several high-speed corners and around 70% of a lap spent at full throttle, the longest venue on the F1 calendar offer a sizeable challenge to the sport's engine manufacturers.

After a torrid 2015 campaign, McLaren-Honda has taken a major step forward this year but remains some way behind the likes of Mercedes, Red Bull, and Ferrari.

“Though the long and power-hungry nature of Spa won’t suit us, our target for the remainder of the season is clear: to aim for championship points and take further steps forward with each race,” Hasegawa said.

“We hope that we can continue our positive momentum that we had before the summer shutdown and look to another strong weekend in Spa.”

Hasegawa’s comments fall in line with McLaren-Honda’s cautious statements when talking about its expectations at power-sensitive tracks this year. However, star driver Fernando Alonso says he and the team have generally “surprised ourselves” at these venues so far this year.

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