Franz Tost positive on Honda: 'They are very, very close to Mercedes'

AlphaTauri set a good performance in the two free practices on Friday. Both drivers finished in the top 10. The confidence for the rest of the race weekend is therefore being built.

AlphaTauri's team boss Franz Tost is very excited about Friday. "The car is fast, hopefully reliable, and we have a strong package. The team is becoming more experienced and fortunately had no turnover among the engineers - that's very important," says the Austrian at Motorsport-Total.com.

Engine supplier Honda is also reported by Tost. "The new powerplant is more powerful and more controllable than before. We will see that in qualifying and also in the race." He dares to go a step further by saying Honda is "very, very close" to Mercedes.

Despite this, Tost also tries to temper expectations a little. According to him, the competition has also made progress. Red Bull and Mercedes are the two teams ahead followed by McLaren the Austrian thinks. "We are close to Ferrari and the rest".