Red Bull insist nothing taken for granted in Mercedes battle

Red Bull team principal Christian Horner has said nothing will be taken for granted in the battle with Mercedes this season.

Red Bull left pre-season testing having set the fastest time of the three days with Max Verstappen – his time over a second faster than the best effort of Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes.

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Coupled with the problems of Mercedes, the pace of Red Bull has led to speculation the team could be in a position to mount a sustained assault on both the drivers’ and constructors’ titles this year.

Horner, however, refused to get carried away with his team’s chances.

Speaking on Sky Sports’ F1 Show, he said: “We don’t underestimate… a lot of the media is talking us up at the moment which is all very flattering.

“But the reality is Mercedes has won the last seven championships, they have smashed everything out of the park in the last seven years.

“To beat them is an enormous, enormous challenge. Nobody is taking anything for granted. We keep our feet firmly on the ground, focus on our own performance and we will never give up trying. We just keep pushing, doing everything we can.

Adding, “We will certainly give it everything we have got,” Horner commented the test was “very positive” for the team with Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez, the Mexican having joined Red Bull from Racing Point over the winter, both looking comfortable in the car.

“It was certainly a very positive test for us,” he continued. “Three days of pretty much, uninterrupted running. We all had the weather to contend with, the sandstorms and the wind but both drivers were really comfortable in the car and we did plenty of laps.

“It was good to come away with plenty of data and two happy drivers. Of course, it is only testing and nobody is getting too excited here at the moment.”