Fernando Alonso thinks Honda is currently ahead of where Mercedes at the same stage of its own V6 project and remains confident of returning to the front of the grid next season.
Honda has clearly made improvements this season and in recent races McLaren been a regular fixture in the Q3 shootout. The Japanese manufacturer has been playing catch-up after joining the V6 turbo in 2015, a year later than Mercedes, Ferrari and Renault.
Alonso thinks that a comparison between Honda's current position and Mercedes last year could show the Japanese manufacturer to be ahead.
When asked what he was doing to push Honda forward, he joked: "Apart from punch them I cannot do anything more! I am trying to push everyone. I am aware of their hard work and I understand that they are doing their best. They are working 24 hours in Sakura, they are bringing all their knowledge from people, but unfortunately in F1 there isn't a magic button you can touch from one day to the other you can reach a certain level.
"If you can imagine we are in our second year, if you see the power we have, the deployment we have and the reliability we have, I don't think there have been many teams in this position in their second season, maybe Mercedes and we are maybe ahead of Mercedes in the second year. I am impressed with what Honda is doing with the little time they had. The biggest problem was the starting point, we were a bit behind last year."
Alonso also used 2015 to illustrate why McLaren is happy with its current form, saying the troubles he and teammate Jenson Button encountered show just how far it has come in a year.
"It has changed a lot I think we are definitely moving forward and in the right direction. Last year the project was not mature enough because the power unit was not ready.
"Everyone remembers here we had 105 positions penalty between Jenson and myself which was a sign we were not ready to compete so we are a little bit behind compared to the other manufacturers, but in terms of organisation and on the chassis-side we are comparable ot the top teams, which is a good sign.
"Now we are in a situation which is much better than last year that makes us more confident than about next year. Last year we needed to solve many problems, now we need solve just one only, which is easier."