Honda play down testing performance

The Japanese squad have failed to shine during winter testing. They have finished off their rivals' pace in most tests with their new RA107 car and have not shown the kind of impressive laps that teams like Ferrari, McLaren and BMW have demonstrated.

Honda, however, believe the testing times are not representative of the real situation, and they reckon they are in better shape than it looks. This comes despite suggestions that the new car lacks balance.

Engineering director Jacky Eeckelaert told Autosport that he believes the testing times do not tell the true story of where Honda stand, and he reckons they are ahead of world champions Renault at the moment.

"The testing times are a little misleading," he said. "Looking at the long runs of some of our rivals, sometimes they are a second faster than us and sometimes a second slower.

"The weather means we've not put in any strong single-lap runs, but we're confident in what we're doing. We're not as quick as McLaren, Ferrari or BMW, but we think we're ahead of Renault."

The team will be introducing their definitive Melbourne-specification aero package at the second test in Bahrain next week, which should provide some indication of just how competitive they will be at the start of the season.

Until now the team have used an interim aero spec based around the 2006 front and rear wings.