Following those frustrating seasons with McLaren, where a lack of communication is said to have been one of the key issues, Franz Tost insists that in partnership with Toro Rosso, Honda took a huge step forward last year.

Now, as pre-season testing gets underway, and 'sister' team Red Bull uses the Japanese manufacturer's power units also, Tost predicts big things for both teams.

"I am very happy about this, all the expectations I put to them, they delivered," the Austrian told reporters at Barcelona.

"I am quite sure that they will close the gap to the top teams," he continued, "and that Red Bull will be able to win races with them, and we will also gain a lot of advantages out of this co-operation."

While the decision to use Honda engines in 2018 came late for his team, Tost believes the second year of the partnership sees both parties better prepared, particularly in terms of the packaging of the power unit.

"If you look at the car, how the power unit is integrated, then it is a big step forward," he said "Much better.

"I must say it was a big step from the engineering side," he continued, "as we had much more time, and there was a really good cooperation with Honda and also Red Bull Technology and from this side we are quite well organised."

While it has been said that further grid penalties can be expected this season, the Austrian doesn't necessarily agree.

"In 2018 we knew from the very beginning that it is a development process which we have to go through and this is what we did," he said. "In the meantime Honda has reached a very high level on the reliability side as well as the performance side, and I don't expect that we will have so many additional engine changes this year. First of all, we calculate with three power units, and the rest we will see.

"In 2018 we knew from the beginning onwards it will become difficult," he concluded. "But now we are in the year 2019 and we want to see now the fruits of this hard work in last year, which both parties did. And therefore I expect a successful season for Toro Rosso as well as for Honda."