Honda is vowing to maintain a high pace of development for the remainder of 2017 with as many as three further upgrades planned before the end of the season.
The Japanese manufacturer finally seems to be on the right path with their power unit following a very troubled first half of the year when a radical overhaul of their 2016 design had several unforeseen flaws.
Recent progress, including the introduction of the Spec 3 unit in Austria, appear to have at least lessened the severity of those problems and allowed partner McLaren to capitalise on their chassis strength at the Hungarian Grand Prix with both cars scoring points for the first time.
Though that is not likely to start a trend, especially with two power circuits at Spa and Monza to come, Honda F1 chief Yusuke Hasegawa spoke about what's to come and admitted it would require a strategic implementation.
"Definitely we will prepare another two steps, but it could be three," he told RACER. "Either way, we will keep going.
"There are also things to think about like tactics of how to manage some steps up and the introduction of new specifications, we also need to avoid penalties as well, especially at certain tracks like Singapore."
Hasegawa, who recently suggested Honda can move ahead of Renault in the engine stakes before the end of the year, is also sure they can make good inroads into the performance deficit they currently face to all other engine suppliers.
"Definitely," he said. "Of that, there is no doubt. We are closing up the gap – but it is natural because we are the followers, so we should be."
As for just how close Honda can get, there was a little more caution, saying: "As a performance development point of view I am confident we will increase it, but I cannot guarantee what level of performance we can achieve at a certain point."
The promise of further upgrades, though an area of contention after the Spec 3 was initially delayed, could also sway McLaren to remain with Honda as they look to decide their supplier for 2018 before the end of next month.
