Control apparatus and control method for internal combustion engine

A control apparatus for controlling an internal combustion engine includes a flow rate sensor that detects an intake air flow rate that represents a flow rate of air admitted into a combustion chamber of the internal combustion engine, a pressure sensor that detects a pressure of the air admitted into the combustion chamber of the internal combustion engine, a characteristic change estimation unit that estimates a characteristic change in the internal combustion engine in accordance with the intake air flow rate detected by the flow rate sensor and the intake air pressure detected by the pressure sensor, and a control unit capable of correcting a control amount of the internal combustion engine so as to compensate the characteristic change thereof in accordance with an estimation performed by the characteristic change estimation unit. The control unit updates a correction amount representative of the control amount corrected by the control unit when the internal combustion engine is in a predetermined operation state.