Honda: "If we don't improve on that, we can't beat Mercedes"

Max Verstappen missed out on victory in Spain on Sunday, partly due to a strong strategy from Mercedes. But the German team also seemed to have more speed than Red Bull Racing. The team has concluded that both strategy and speed need to be improved, as does engine supplier Honda.

Toyoharu Tanabe, technical director at Honda F1, believes Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes had more fighting power and a better strategy than Red Bull. "Verstappen overtook Hamilton right at the start, and led almost the whole race. But after Mercedes' two-stop strategy, Hamilton quickly caught up and we were overtaken without being able to do anything back," Tanabe said in conversation with as-web.jp.

Sergio Perez failed to move beyond fifth, but also had to come from eighth after making a mistake in qualifying. "It's difficult to overtake from eighth place," said Tanabe. "Especially when you're behind the top group. In the end he managed to come back to fifth place."

The conclusion, also at Honda, is that strategy and speed need to be improved. "If we don't improve that, we can't beat Mercedes. We now understand more about our strengths and weaknesses. This is a benchmark circuit, so we have collected valuable data. We are going to do our best to make the power unit faster," said the Honda chief.