Red Bull should benefit from an even better Honda power unit in 2024.
McLaren CEO Zak Brown said at Suzuka that because Red Bull has essentially stopped developing its 2023 car, the fact that the next car may be even better is "scary".
Honda’s latest news will not cheer him up.
"We cannot improve anything in terms of power and performance," said Honda Racing Corporation president Koji Watanabe at Suzuka.
"But we can still make progress in other areas with this engine," he told De Telegraaf.
"At Ferrari, for example, they have developed the engine considerably and the ERS system from Mercedes is also very strong. We will also improve our engine for next year in terms of its lifespan.
"So there is certainly more in the pipeline," the Japanese added.
Red Bull and Honda are still working together in Formula 1, even though the energy drink-owned team is developing its own engine subsidiary in collaboration with Ford for 2026.
But Red Bull only made the call about ’Red Bull Powertrains’ after Honda initially decided to pull completely out of F1 at the end of 2021.
"I don’t regret that that decision was made in 2020 at the time," Watanabe insists. "At that moment, in my opinion, it was the right choice. Honda’s management had made climate neutrality an important pillar."
Honda eventually pulled a total u-turn on that decision, and will instead team up for a full works effort with Aston Martin from the start of the all-new 2026 engine rules.
"Red Bull doesn’t tell us anything about their engine," Watanabe explains, "and we don’t tell them anything about our development either.
"There is already a kind of information war going on right now," he added when asked about 2026. "Until 2025, I hope Red Bull wins everything.
"And from 2026, we will hopefully be their biggest competitor. Building a completely new engine is a huge challenge, but our goal is to win a championship in the next era."