Red Bull Team Principal Christian Horner has labelled Mercedes as favourites for Monaco but has stressed that the manufacturer can still be beaten.
Mercedes has triumphed at the last seven grands prix and has taken five 1-2 finishes from the opening five rounds of the 2019 season.
Red Bull has held the fastest package in Monaco for two of the last three years, with Daniel Ricciardo dominating the entirety of the weekend 12 months ago.
But Mercedes’ pace this season – particularly through the slow-speed sections in Barcelona – has prompted expectations that the W10 will be the car to beat in Monaco.
“Well they have a really dominant performance,” said Horner.
“They're always strong in Barcelona but certainly their fifth one-two finish is exceedingly dominant. “Certainly in Monaco if you look at their performance in the low-speed section of Barcelona, you would expect them to be very strong in Monaco.
“So I think they’ll certainly be very much the favourites there and we will be trying our best to challenge them as best we can.”
Horner, who called the current title race a “Mercedes championship” nonetheless feels that the reigning World Champions can still be beaten, despite their current dominance.
“For sure Mercedes are the benchmark, you don’t achieve five 1-2 finishes without having the best car,” he said.
“Anybody can be beaten. Formula 1 is all about teamwork, it’s the biggest teams in the world. “Mercedes at the moment are on the crest of a wave but that never lasts forever and our job is to ensure that we have all the tools and capability to take that challenge to them in the coming years.”
