London, England - Honda has dismissed speculation it has found more than a whopping 166kW over the winter break.
Earlier, the Spanish sports daily AS claimed McLaren's works engine partner had closed the gap to the leading manufacturers for 2016 by improving the internal combustion engine and troublesome energy recovery systems.
Read: F1 testing: Honda has gained 166kW!
F1 correspondent Manuel Franco wrote"Sakura, the Honda factory in Japan, has worked 24 hour shifts without Christmas holidays," correspondent Manuel Franco wrote.
But Honda told Britain's Sky on Monday (January 25): "These reports are unsubstantiated and merely speculative, and we ask fans and media alike to treat them as such."
BBC F1 journalist Andrew Benson tweeted:
Re report of 223bhp power increase, Honda say they "don't know where that number came from" and "don't know yet" what improvement will be
— Andrew Benson (@andrewbensonf1) January 25, 2016
Which, interestingly and for what it's worth, is not actually a denial. They did point out that 223bhp is a rather large leap, however
— Andrew Benson (@andrewbensonf1) January 25, 2016