Red Bull can challenge Mercedes for the championship this season, according to four-time world champion Alain Prost.
Whilst Ferrari looked to be Mercedes' nearest rival at the beginning of the season, Red Bull has surpassed expectations and emerged as a potential threat to the Mercedes outfit, with a win in Spain and an almost-win in Monaco, had it not been for a pit stop mishap which cost Daniel Ricciardo track position.
Although 76 points adrift after just six races, Red Bull have outscored Mercedes by 24 points in the last two races alone and Prost believes they can continue to beat Mercedes now they have a solid power unit following Renault's latest upgrade.
"They could be a challenger, maybe a big challenger, for Mercedes, definitely," the Frenchman said.
"But I don't think Renault can do much more for the engine, but for sure there will be some more improvement."
Prost, a Renault ambassador, says the French manufacturer isn't unhappy seeing Red Bull take the glory once again, whilst Renault struggles to finish in the top ten, insisting their time will come as they build on what they have following a recent Lotus takeover.
"[Renault] are very happy…unless [they] are going to become competitive – which is not today – they are very happy to see the engine winning and Red Bull to be a title contender. I'm not jealous at all, for sure!
"I think it's a very positive thing, in this situation. It's [Renault] a constructor team, so you have an engine and chassis together now, so it can be a positive fight or competition. At least you know the engine is working well and it can be very good for the people making the engine, very good for the image, very good for Red Bull.
"It means you can concentrate [on other areas], and it gives a nice motivation, a nice vision for the future. It is almost like 'this part is working, so we can do even better'."
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