Red Bull boss Christian Horner believes the Bahrain Grand Prix will offer a better indication of his team’s potential for 2019.
The opening round in Melbourne saw the expected pecking order from testing be completely wrong as pre-race favourites Ferrari struggled and Mercedes dominated.
Red Bull too produced a strong start to their partnership with Honda as Max Verstappen claimed third, but Horner remains unconvinced if that will be translated into a possible title challenge for the Dutchman.
“It’s still too early to talk about the Championship,” he was quoted by PlanetF1.
“The podium was a great moment for Honda [but] the race at Albert Park is also not the benchmark for the pecking order in Formula 1, because the track has a special characteristic.
“Mercedes surprised with its pace and Ferrari rather disappointed. Whether this is really a trend, can only be evaluated after the race in Bahrain.”
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While not getting carried away, the Red Bull chief was keen to stress this wasn’t downplaying their ability to compete with Honda.
“We are proud of the performance and are happy with the Honda product,” Horner stated. “I hope this is the start of a strong season.
“The goal of Red Bull is still to close the gap on Mercedes and Ferrari. But we have had a good start and need to build on this positive energy now.”
His comments were echoed by Verstappen, who even thinks a true pecking order won’t be established until after the third race in China.
Right now though the focus is on Bahrain and that means happy memories for Max’s new teammate Pierre Gasly.
“Bahrain is one of my favourite races, I had my best result in Formula 1 there last year with a fourth place, so for me, Bahrain is very exciting, there is a lot of positive energy,” he said.
“I can not wait to come back here, this time with Red Bull, especially after a complicated weekend in Melbourne.
“We could see that our car was competitive and I like the Bahrain circuit, so I can not wait to get back in the car and get to work.”