Honda has accepted it needs to improve its potential across one-lap if it is to compete at the sharp end of the Formula 1 grid on a more regular basis.
Honda secured its maiden victory in the hybrid era at the Austrian Grand Prix courtesy of Red Bull’s Max Verstappen.
Verstappen’s win was achieved from the front row of the grid – albeit via a poor start that dropped him as low as ninth – and it marked Honda’s best qualifying result of 2019.
Verstappen is still waiting for his first Formula 1 pole position, with Red Bull having largely trailed Mercedes and Ferrari through qualifying this season.
“We see a bigger gap in qualifying to the others,” said Honda F1 chief Toyoharu Tanabe.
“In the race, we’re still behind but not as much as in qualifying.
“It means that in our next step we need to catch up with them more in qualifying, but it’s not easy.
“We try to use our power unit as hard as we can, but it’s not easy [for] it [to] go higher immediately.”
Verstappen’s win came four-and-a-half years into Honda’s return to the sport as an engine supplier, joining Mercedes, Ferrari and Renault as victors in the hybrid era.
Tanabe nonetheless warned that Honda cannot expect its Austria level of performance to be maintained at other events.
“Of course this result encourages the members of our development team but from the beginning of the season we could really see a big gap to Mercedes and Ferrari,” he said.
“We were strong [in Austria], but for the next race I cannot guarantee we’ll be a strong, that we’ll have the same competitiveness compared with the others.
“It means we need to keep pushing very hard, to get the confidence that we are strong and that when we’ll make no mistakes we will win. We want to have that level and need to keep pushing.”
