Red Bull boss Christian Horner says it would be “foolish” for any team to overlook Ferrari heading to Australia.
The Scuderia haven’t looked themselves yet in 2020, with a low-key pre-season in Barcelona and even admissions from team boss Mattia Binotto that they will start behind their rivals.
However, having been stung by seeing testing hype quickly evapourate 12 months ago, many believe Ferrari is simply waiting until race one to reveal their hand.
“That is always the dangerous thing about pre-season testing, trying to draw too many conclusions,” Horner said via Motorsport Week.
“Ferrari looked understated at the last test but they are starting to wind it up and I think it would be foolish to underestimate them going to Melbourne.”
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At this point, it does appear that Red Bull head Down Under as the closest competition to Mercedes but Max Verstappen also knows how quickly those predictions can go wrong.
“I have done this six times now and testing doesn’t give you anything in terms of real lap times as Melbourne is so different so I prefer to wait and see what happens in Melbourne,” he said.
“Not only in Melbourne as it can be a funny Grand Prix where things can go really well or not.
“You need a few races to get a good read of it. I just don’t focus on it too much here.”
And as for the German manufacturer, Red Bull boss Horner is sure they start 2020 as the team to beat.
“Mercedes are the reigning six-time World Champions and very much the favourites,” he stated.
“Their form has always looked strong here and you want to have your issues in testing not when you are racing so winter testing can sometimes be a little deceptive but I think it will be the same teams fighting at the sharp end of the grid this year.”