After a difficult start to the campaign, Jenson Button showed that progress was being made when he grabbed eighth place around the streets of Monte Carlo.

Honda F1 chief Yasuhisa Arai welcomed the points – which he said felt like the proper start of his company's F1 return – but was well aware that the Monaco pace was helped by improved driveability on a track where power is not so vital.

"We found some suitable driveability for the special Monaco race track because horsepower is not so important here," he said.

"[It is not about performance with] wide open throttle, it is using partial throttle so is a very sensitive area.

"We made good driveability for Jenson and Fernando [Alonso], and they had a good feeling. Jenson got a good place for us, so I am very happy."

Power tracks coming

Honda knows that the next events in Canada and Austria will put more of a premium on horsepower, where the Japanese manufacturer is lacking.

However, it is reluctant to use any of its remaining engine development tokens just yet because it prefers to hold on to them until later in the campaign.

"Canada is a power circuit, so we need more power," he said. "But it is also a heavy stopping circuit, so braking and energy recovery is very important.

"I know that we need more power, but it is not so easy to get that. So it is how to deliver the MGU-K power for that kind of high-speed circuit – we will think about it after this race."

When asked about when tokens would be deployed, Arai said: "We don't have any plan yet – we don't decide when we use the tokens.

"It depends on our strategy. We will discuss with McLaren and decide which race."