Red Bull team principal Christian Horner has admitted that Mercedes are currently the favourites to win in Australia or to possibly take the title.
The Briton’s outfit is struggling not only with the Renault power unit, but with its own RB10 too. Despite admitting things are “heading in the right direction”, he concedes they’re behind their rivals.
“You’d have to say that Mercedes are the favourites, or that Mercedes-powered teams are absolutely the favourites,” he told Sky Sports.
However Red Bull aren’t defeated and Horner is confident they will fight back during the season.
“We are on the backfoot, but it’s a long year, a tough championship and it’s not all won in winter testing,” he added.
“It’s obviously not where we wanted to be, but it’s where we are and it’s a question of just getting on with it.”
Renault has completed the fewest laps (656) when compared to Ferrari (906) and Mercedes (1761). Red Bull meanwhile has completed the third lowest with only Marussia and Lotus – who missed the first test – having done less.
Horner however is confident they’ll work through the problems thanks to their close relationship with power unit manufacturer Renault.
“We would have liked more miles under our belts, but the collaboration we have with Renault is extremely strong,” Horner said. “All of our grand prix wins have come with Renault power and there’s a great working relationship between the teams.”
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