Red Bull boss Christian Horner is expecting Mercedes to be much stronger at the Hungarian Grand Prix compared to recent years.
The German manufacturer has only won twice at the Hungaroring in the hybrid era as the high temperatures and lack of straights have allowed Red Bull and Ferrari to be more competitive.
However, this year has seen that dynamic switch with Mercedes opting for a high downforce approach with the W10, as they showed earlier in the year at Monaco.
“Hungary is a track we enjoy going to,” Horner commented ahead of the trip to Budapest. “But Mercedes’s slow corner performance is pretty mighty, and I think they’re going to be tough opponents.”
Mercedes too, are feeling much more upbeat about their chances in Hungary and reminded their rivals of the dominance they have enjoyed this season.
“In recent years, the Hungaroring has been a challenging circuit for us – but we managed to win there last year and there are a number of reasons to believe our car could be more competitive there this year than in recent seasons,” team boss Toto Wolff said.
“Looking at our competition, Ferrari have been very strong on short circuits this year and we expect them to be competitive again in Budapest; Red Bull too, have won two of the past three races with Max.
“But we haven’t lost sight of the fact that we have come out on top in nine of the 11 races so far this year. And we are determined to fight tooth and nail this weekend to achieve another strong result.”
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Red Bull though have been making their own gains in downforce, having struggled initially with the 2019 aero changes, as shown by Max Verstappen’s pace in the wet at Hockenheim.
“We have been getting more performance on the car,” Horner continued.
“The chassis’s been getting better, the engine’s been getting better and I think we have got some good stuff in the pipeline for the second half of the year.
“We’ve got stable regulations from 2019 into ’20, so whatever we learn this year applies to next year.
“So we want to keep the trajectory going the way we are.”