Brendon Hartley reckons the update Honda has brought to the Canadian Grand Prix will prove more fruitful in race trim, compared to its relative qualifying gains.
Honda has brought an updated Internal Combustion Engine to the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, as part of its scheduled development programme, and Hartley qualified in 12th position.
While encouraged by Toro Rosso’s one-lap speed, Hartley reckons the progress made will prove more beneficial in race trim, as he eyes moving up into the top 10.
“I think 12th was more or less where we’ve been this weekend, there was probably another tenth in the car on that last lap, but to move much further up the grid and into Q3 was a bit of a tall order,” he said.
“I’m quite optimistic. The upgrade performance in qualifying was good, and we think the bigger step is in the race trim which is where we have been struggling recently.
“Hopefully we can battle it out and try to muscle our way into the top 10 – everything has been really positive so far and we’ve seen races in the past here where a lot can happen.
“I’ll keep focused and do my best to bring home some points.”
Team-mate Pierre Gasly, meanwhile, suffered a loss of power during the final practice session and Honda reverted to an old-spec part as a precaution.
Gasly dropped out in Q1 as a result and will line up from 16th on the grid.
“Looking at the positives, Honda made a really good step with the updates they brought to Canada which seems to work very well so far,” he said.
“I can’t wait to put them back on my car as soon as possible! I think the race will be tough… but we’ll try everything!
“Anything can happen in Canada, it’s a challenging track and it’s easy to make mistakes, so maybe there’ll be some opportunities for me.”
