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Horner: 1000hp engine should make Mercedes confident

Published on 27 Feb 2018 09:21
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By: Fergal Walsh

Christian Horner has confirmed team colleague Dr Helmut Marko's admission that Red Bull will struggle to win the 2018 title. Daniel Ricciardo topped the times as winter testing kicked off at cold Barcelona on Monday, but boss Horner said of Red Bull's hopes: "We expect to reduce the gap to the top.

"Mercedes is the favourite, and if the rumours about their 1000 horse power engine are correct, then they can face the season very confidently."

Red Bull's customer supplier Renault ended last season with serious reliability problems and with still only the third best engine on the grid. Horner said: "I see a Renault that is better prepared for the new season. When reliability is better, they can turn up the power. We've won every Grand Prix and world championship as Renault customers."

And he said Red Bull could still have something up its sleeve for Australia: "It will get really interesting next week, when the three best teams in particular will bring new parts late enough that their opponents cannot react," Horner predicted.

For 2019, Red Bull is considering a switch to Honda, who are now powering the energy drink company's second F1 team, Toro Rosso: "We are open to everything when it comes to 2019," Horner said, "but of course we are watching very closely what happens with Honda and Toro Rosso."

But more immediately, F1 could be looking at another Mercedes title this year, Horner predicted: "Dominance is never good for the sport," he said. "And dominance mainly because of the engine shows what's wrong with the sport.

"It also shows how important it is that we get it right with the engines for 2021. We need to be looking at that now, because if we let it get much later than the summer, the engine manufacturers will say they don't have time to prepare. This is where we really need the FIA and Liberty. The engine question must have priority this year," Horner said.

But another priority for Red Bull will be talks with Daniel Ricciardo, whose contract is expiring. The Australian driver said on Monday that he thinks those talks will begin in April: "He and we will want to see how the season starts to unfold, and then in due course we'll decide what to do," Horner said.

ajpennypacker

Posts: 2,475

@calle by the way, you know way too many English folksy idioms. I'm starting to be suspicious of your swede credentials :D

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Feb 27 2018 - 20:49

F1 News Daniel Ricciardo Mercedes Renault Honda

Replies (8)

mcbhargav

Posts: 1,332
Crucial year for Honda in F1, than ever.
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- Feb 27 2018 - 18:53
ajpennypacker

Posts: 2,475
It's February and Horner is already whining about this? I don't like the one team dominance more than anyone else, but I'd definitely prefer Mercedes dominating than Red Bull dominating, or Ferrari for that matter. Talk about boring dominations, favouring one driver in shameless ways.
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- Feb 27 2018 - 19:04
- calle.itw
  
  Posts: 8,527
  Well, the early bird guts the petty worm. But in Red Bull's defence, both Mercedes and Ferrari clearly favour one each of their drivers. You cant tell me with a straight...text... that Ferrari doesnt favour Vettel over Räikkönen (and maybe they should, seeing as Kimi hasnt performed astoundingly well as of late).
  + 0
  
  Feb 27 2018 - 19:29
- ajpennypacker
  
  Posts: 2,475
  @Calle Agreed. I was referring to the Ferrari dominance with Schumacher and his corresponding weak #2 driver. As far as Mercedes? It's been different with Bottas because he's so inferior. But I think it was clear with Rosberg that Mercedes didn't favour either one, and would let them race hard.
  + 1
  
  Feb 27 2018 - 20:47
- ajpennypacker
  
  Posts: 2,475
  @calle by the way, you know way too many English folksy idioms. I'm starting to be suspicious of your swede credentials :D
  + 2
  
  Feb 27 2018 - 20:49
- calle.itw
  
  Posts: 8,527
  With Rosberg? Yeah, but then it was close call. We have some teams that doesnt favour either driver in an apparent way, even when one driver is better than the other, and then we have teams like Ferrari and Mercedes, whom will prioritize on driver over the other once they see a dominant driver. I wonder if Red Bull are truly favouring one driver over the other currently. But yeah, I dont really mind how Mercedes treat their drivers generally.
  
  Maybe Im a spy? Infiltrating this cold country to investigate the true intentions of fika and the almighty biological weaponry that is surströmming? ;) Nah, Im but a mere Swedish labrat. I have a Cambridge certificate, mind, so I do know a thing or two about English, and plenty of Swedes know of and use English idioms. :)
  + 0
  
  Feb 27 2018 - 22:07
- RogerF1
  
  Posts: 501
  Almost English folksy idiom, but not quite. Being a picky Englishman “the early bird catcheth the worm” was first recorded in 1670 as an English proverb. The ‘guts the worm’ version appears to be a video game comment more recently from around 3 years ago. But, hey ho we get the gist and a well appointed comment, as we usually expect from Calle. I’m sort of eering on the taking early running as a good sign. Merc’s monstrous reliability and lap count last season proved prophetic.
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  Feb 27 2018 - 22:08
- calle.itw
  
  Posts: 8,527
  Hehe yeah I dont think anyone actually uses my version in real life (I think its a quote from Swain in League of Legends?), but I like it more. :) The fact is that running in general seem to have been very smooth so far for most teams. I hope its an omen of few grid penalties this year, but with fewer units, I dont find that likely.
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  Feb 27 2018 - 22:20