Red Bull would need a “gargantuan f**k up” by Mercedes to stand any chance of contending for the 2019 title, according to team boss Christian Horner.
Red Bull’s Max Verstappen has been the in-form driver through the last four races, taking victory in Austria and Germany, and the runner-up spot in Hungary.
Verstappen, though, is still 69 points behind reigning World Champion Lewis Hamilton – winner of eight races this year – while Mercedes holds a 150-point gap to Ferrari, and a further 44 over Red Bull.
Horner stressed that Mercedes is highly unlikely to be beaten to either title and underlined that Red Bull is still regarding 2019 as a “building year” with new partner Honda.
“I think Lewis is now over 70 points ahead, which is close to a three-race advantage with nine to go,” said Horner.
“So basically Lewis would have to not turn up for three races, if his cough comes back or something or he gets athlete’s foot, it’s hugely unlikely.
“They would have to f**k up by gargantuan proportions not to win this championship.
“But our target for the rest of the year is to close that gap at races [such as Hungary] and hopefully some races will work out the other way around for us like they did [in Germany], and as we get more performance on the car, Honda make progress, this is very much a building year as we got to 2020.”
Horner also confirmed that Red Bull is likely to take on grid drops at stages throughout the remainder of the year, as Honda continues on its aggressive development path.
“We are not in the Constructors’ championship, we are a significant way off in the Drivers’ championship,” said Horner.
“So if there is a way to introduce new engines in the second half of the year that bring more performance and therefore more learning, then absolutely [we will take penalties].”
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