Red Bull Racing may finally be in a position to go head-to-head with its front-running rivals in qualifying in 2019, thanks to a new engine "party mode" delivered by Honda.
The Milton Keynes-based outfit's optimism for the season ahead appears to be bordering on euphoria based on the latest comments from Red Bull's Helmut Marko.
According to a report from Motorsport.com's Scott Mitchell, Red Bull is set to reach the holy grail of qualifying for the first time since the advent of the hybrid era in F1, thanks to the latest progress of Honda's power unit.
"The figures make us really optimistic, also with regard to the increase in performance," Marko told Motorsport.com.
"For the first time we can also celebrate with a 'party mode'!
"The Honda engine is already slightly above the Renault engine. If you combine our GPS data with the data provided by Honda, we'll be in the Mercedes and Ferrari region.
"Of course they're not sleeping either. But they are already at such a high level that they can no longer make such jumps.
"Even if we should be 10 or 15 kW behind, that was no different in our Renault era with the eight-cylinder engine. We can make up for that."
Marko's claims will obviously need to be put to the test, and perhaps they should be taken with a grain of salt after a report emerged from Germany last week stating that Honda's 2019 development programme had hit a setback, with a vibrations issue allegedly restricting the Japanese manufacture's unit from running at full capacity.
While Honda's workflow is likely moving in the right direction, boosting an engine's output won't prove very useful if reliability doesn't follow suit, a fact that isn't lost on Dr. Marko.
"We are aware that it will probably be difficult with reliability," he added.
"Most probably we won't be able to get through the season on three engines.
"But if you choose the right tracks, you can be back at the top in a few laps. That will be the concept, that we consciously accept engine penalties if necessary."
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