By alley - Sep 15, 2017, 1:35 PM ET

Honda targets top three with Toro Rosso

Honda wants to fight for the top three in the constructors' championship with Toro Rosso next season after ending its partnership with McLaren.

The Japanese manufacturer took on a new power unit concept this year but failed to deliver on both reliability and performance fronts, resulting in a

breakdown of its relationship with McLaren

. On Friday it was confirmed

Honda will supply Toro Rosso

for the next three seasons while McLaren switches to Renault, and Honda's chief officer of brand and communications, Katsuhide Moriyama, says it will aim high in 2018.

"It is true that we have gone through a very tough situation and nobody is satisfied with the current results especially the board. It is true we have gone through many discussions due to the dissatisfaction of the President and we have discussed it and how to improve the situation. Quitting F1 was never an option for us.

"It is our goal to overcome this tough challenge and get back to fighting with the frontrunners of the sport. Our spirit is going to come back and next year our goal is to fight for the top three at the top of the grid."

Honda's general manager of motorsport, Masashi Yamamoto, believes the partnership with Toro Rosso will be productive despite the short time to prepare.

"Although we do not have much time until the start of the next season, I feel we are going to have a good relationship between Honda and Toro Rosso," Yamamoto said. "I believe that Toro Rosso is a pure racing team and the spirit of Toro Rosso is similar to the spirit of Honda therefore with the short time that we have we can work smoothly and successfully over the next year."

Sitting alongside the Honda executives in Singapore, Toro Rosso team principal Franz Tost agreed that the team should set ambitious targets.

"Toro Rosso is not Ferrari and Mercedes, we don't have the infrastructure," Tost said. "But I can promise you that we, within our possibilities, will do the best possible job and the rest we will see. It is not always the money that is decisive for success and I hope Toro Rosso will work efficient because this is our slogan, to get the most out of the package.

"The rest we will see and the future will show, if necessary then of course bring in more people and increase the infrastructure, whatever is necessary to get the success that Honda wishes. But this is too early a stage to talk about these details of the infrastructure. But I believe we are in a position to fight competitively within the midfield or the front part of the midfield, but the rest the future will show."