10/02/2015
NEWS STORY
Speaking at a press conference in Tokyo, Ron Dennis has played down his team's disappointing form at the Jerez test.
Speaking at a press conference at Honda’s Tokyo HQ, at which the Japanese giant proudly displayed a number of its own legendary (and not so legendary) cars together with numerous title winning McLarens it powered, the Woking boss was keen to play down the negative talk that surrounded a largely disappointing test in Spain last week.
"The first test clearly wasn't as smooth as we would like," Dennis admitted, "but nevertheless we have to stay very disciplined and focus on gathering the data. I think the first thing we should emphasise is that the first Grand Prix where we are going to be measured is in fact Australia."
Indeed, whilst the Woking outfit only completed 79 laps over the course of the four days, this compares favourably with the 21 completed by Red Bull in 2014, the Austrian team subsequently going on to win three races and finish runner-up to Mercedes.
"You don't expect to be at the top of the mountain the day you start climbing," insisted Dennis. "It takes time and you also have to prepare well. We are very much preparing for the climb, and it's going to be a challenging climb but it's a climb that both Honda and McLaren have made several times together.
"We are ready for the challenge and we will have success," he added, "because history shows that Honda always succeeds and the Honda-McLaren partnership in the '80s is something that we intend to reproduce."