Honda had to come a long way in Austin: 'During FP3 we had confirmation'

For Toyoharu Tabane in the meantime it's routine to react to yet another pole positon from Verstappen. "For the second consecutive race, we had all four cars getting through to Q3. Max put in a great lap to take pole and Checo was very close and will start from third tomorrow, with Pierre and Yuki starting from eighth and tenth, as Bottas will split them because of his penalty", he says in his review.

Honda had to make a lot of improvements

However, he also said that it didn't come naturally this time. "Last night, we worked with both our teams to optimise the PU and chassis settings and from FP3 this morning we were able to confirm that the changes we made were working in the right direction. We then made a few more changes and having improved the cars through all the sessions, that produced the good results we saw in qualifying."

In the race, Tanabe still expects heavy opposition from Hamilton and Mercedes. A good start is crucial as usual, after which tyre management is likely to decide the race.