Honda vows to improve engine ’power’

Honda has vowed to improve the performance of its engine.

The progress made so far in 2015 seemed to stall in Canada, as McLaren-Honda’s Fernando Alonso and Jenson Button struggled for outright power on the long straights.

And the Woking based team, despite unveiling a new ’short nose’ aerodynamic concept for Austria, is acknowledging that the start-stop nature of the Red Bull Ring this weekend will also not suit its Japanese-made power unit.

Amid growing pressure, therefore, Honda’s F1 chief Yasuhisa Arai said the marque is pushing ahead with much-needed performance improvements.

"From the point of view of power," he is quoted by Italy’s Tuttosport, "we will see improvements in the near future.

"We are working hard as a team, not only on the engine but also on aerodynamics and the chassis.

"We have seen good progress in these two areas between Australia and Canada, and perhaps in the second half of the season we will be able to achieve high performance and compete with the best teams," the Japanese added.