Honda accepts their performance compared to their rivals at the Austrian Grand Prix is not likely to become common just yet.

Max Verstappen powered by way passed two Ferraris and a Mercedes to claim victory at Spielberg, giving the Japanese manufacturer their first Formula 1 win since 2006.

But, as has been seen at power circuits like Montreal so far this season, technical director Toyoharu Tanabe admits in normal conditions Honda remain down on power compared to their rivals.

"Of course this result encourages the members of our development team, but from the beginning of the season we could really see a big gap to Mercedes and Ferrari," Tanabe said.

"In Austria it was okay; we were strong, but for the next race, I cannot guarantee we'll be a strong as [Sunday], that we'll have the same competitiveness compared with the others.

"It means we need to keep pushing very hard, to get the confidence that we are strong and that when we'll make no mistakes we will win. We want to have that level and need to keep pushing."

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The key to their success was the hot temperatures in Austria, with Mercedes in particular, struggling to cool the power unit and other key components.

But the Honda chief revealed Verstappen was also taking a few risks to produce the performance he had.

"We were on the edge in terms of cooling," Tanabe explained. "Of course, the high temperatures forced us to save the power unit. We tried to extract as much power as we could.

"I did not [expect to be competitive] like this, be so strong," he admitted. "From the previous races, we could see a very strong Mercedes but sometimes we could compete with Ferrari.

"Differently, we showed the strongest performance against them, so I'm a bit surprised."