Hasegawa: I really want to move ahead of Renault

After their best weekend so far this season, at the Hungarian Grand Prix, Honda F1 chief Yusuke Hasegawa is bullish about the future and believes catching Renault is a realistic target, but admits Mercedes and Ferrari are out of reach for now.

Hasegawa said in an interview, "I really want to move ahead of Renault in terms of performance before the end of the season. I can see that on the data. I will not tell you the number, but we are closing the gap."

"I think we can keep the same ratio of the increasing of the power but it is difficult to catch up Mercedes or Ferrari," he admitted

The Honda man was speaking after McLaren's Fernando Alonso and Stoffel Vandoorne finished sixth and tenth respectively at the Hungaroring while Renault failed to score a point.

Hasegawa said, "I'm glad we were able to show some results," said the engineer. We did not see any problems so it was the first time that I was not worried about finishing the race."

Amid intense speculation that McLaren have actively been seeking an alternative engine partner, Honda are clearly keen to remain with the Woking outfit.

"There is no doubt that we would like to continue to cooperate with McLaren. I think that with better performance we will continue to work together," predicted Hasegawa.