Red Bull team principal Christian Horner believes that Honda could well challenge the likes of Ferrari and Mercedes this season in the engine development race.
The Red Bull team boss has been bullish about his team's chances in 2019 however had recently downplayed Red Bull's targets of race wins this season.
Ahead of the Azerbaijan Grand Prix however, Honda announced it would be introducing spec 2 of its 2019 power unit, providing a boost in power and reliability ahead of the race in Baku.
Horner explained that the Japanese manufacturer was continuing to make serious progress with their power unit and very well could be challenging Ferrari and Mercedes power by the end of the season.
“I think (Honda) are making progress with it. There is stuff in the pipeline that will certainly help but the others aren’t standing still," he explained to Racer.
“It is all about evolution. Our goal this year has been all about closing the gap to Mercedes and Ferrari and we are doing that.
“(In China) we split the Ferraris, we are certainly closer on pace to Mercedes. There will be more ‘concertinaing’ that will happen between now and the halfway point of the year.”