Honda's head of F1 project Yusuke Hasegawa says Mercedes' "engine performance is incredible" but is confident the Japanese manufacturer is gaining.
Mercedes introduced a new specification of power unit at the Belgian Grand Prix, but the upgrade appeared to show an even bigger step forward in performance at Monza. Having seen Mercedes dominate the race, Hasegawa admits it shows just how strong the defending champions' power unit performance is.
"Yeah, always – not only here from the start of the season," Hasegawa said when it was put to him Mercedes seemed to have improved. "Their engine performance is incredible. To make this event much better we have to catch up."
However, when it was suggested it means there is more work than ever required by Honda, Hasegawa replied: "I don’t think so. Power point of view the improvement ratio is not our issue. It’s bigger than Mercedes."
And Hasegawa says he is not too downbeat by the lack of points scored by McLaren at Monza, saying 12th place for Jenson Button was about the position he expected without any reliability issues for the top five teams in the constructors' championship.
"Actually we knew this is the most tough circuit for engine and with our engine power delivery point of view we knew we couldn’t expect a lot. The result is very sad to say but without any accident or retirement of the top teams we thought we couldn’t get a point.
"From that situation we have to appreciate the drivers and the team showed the maximum performance that we could do now. "
Scene at the Italian Grand Prix
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2016 Italian Grand Prix - Quotes of the week
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