CHRISTIAN HORNER believes Red Bull are primed to finally top Mercedes – with a fresh warning shot fired in Friday practice.
Max Verstappen topped the first timesheet of 2021 in Bahrain, leaving world champion Lewis Hamilton fourth.
The Silver Arrows already appeared to hit a bump in the road during pre-season testing and Red Bull are ready to pounce.
Horner, whose team won four doubles in a row between 2010 and 2013 with Sebastian Vettel, said ahead of practice: “Sport is always cyclical.
“Teams go through dominant phases and at some point it comes to a close.
“There will come a time when someone will beat them and we need to make sure it is us.
“I believe we have great depth in the team. We have had a busy winter and everybody has pulled together and worked incredibly hard in difficult circumstances.
“But the whole team is fully galvanised and this car will be competitive from the first race.
“People are very much hoping for there to be a challenge to Mercedes. It has been seven years of dominance.
“We used to get accused of it but we have achieved nothing like what Mercedes have in recent years.
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“As probably their closest challenger over the last six years or so – we have won races in every year – and we need to do that on a sustained basis.
“We went into the winter on a positive note. Winning that last race in Abu Dhabi lifted the organisation through the winter.”
Red Bull will be pinning their title challenge on Max Verstappen, with the Dutchman heavily linked as a replacement for Lewis Hamilton when he does retire.
But the 23-year-old is remarkably calm about his prospects with the team and has no reason to leave if they can produce a title-winning car for him.
Verstappen said: “I am pretty relaxed at the moment. I just want to drive the car.
“Every year it is a new challenge to beat the rest and that is the aim again this year.
“I am not a person who is easily distracted by talk about my future. I am fine. I feel good in the team, which is the most important thing.
“We will see what happens in the future but for the moment I am looking forward to a few race wins.
“We had a few races last season where we were close and we won two races, but in general we were not close enough to make it difficult for Mercedes.
“So I hope we can do that this year, that’s what I am excited for. I don’t play mind games. I am very chilled and relaxed and I know I can do it.
“It doesn’t matter who you are fighting against, I just focus on myself and do the best I can. There is nothing new that I have to adjust.”
Meanwhile, Horner is confident of keeping hold of the team’s prized asset.
He added: “Max has a lot of faith in the team. We just have to deliver a competitive car.
“We had a good test with him and I hope that we can build on that.
“Over the last couple of years, he has really stepped up and is now the driver most-likely to challenge Lewis.
“We are just focusing on ourselves. We cannot control what others are doing.
“Sometimes the situation is different internally than how it looks externally.
“I have been around long enough to stop worrying about what others are doing.”
