Marko: Red Bull 'could take half a season' to match Mercedes

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Red Bull motorsport advisor Helmut Marko has conceded that it could take half the season before Red Bull is in a position to outpace Mercedes.

"Mercedes is still the favourite," Marko told Sky Sports this week. "They have the fastest engine, they have the best driveability.

"Renault is catching up. How much? We will see when we come to Melbourne but we are positive that we could come very near to them mid-season or so.

Marko added that the Ferrari was also looking strong, and seemed to be showing some good reliability so far in pre-season testing.

"I think it should be a fight between Mercedes, Ferrari and us," Marko said. "How close we are and the rest? We will see during the season."

The new tyre and downforce regulations introduced this season give Red Bull the chance to narrow the gap to Mercedes. Marko said he was in favour of how the 2017 cars were shaping up.

"The car looks much better, more aggressive, more sexy," he said when asked about the RB13.

Marko expecting engine boost from Renault at Spanish GP

"What I have seen in the fast corners, the cornering speed is amazing so I'm sure we will see much faster lap times.

"Overtaking I'm not so sure, they are braking so late it will be difficult.

"Let's see when people are running with the same amount of weight and with full horsepower," he concluded. "I think it could be an interesting season."

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Andrew Lewin

Andrew first became a fan of Formula 1 during the time when Michael Schumacher and Damon Hill were stepping into the limelight after the era of Alain Prost, Nigel Mansell and Aryton Senna. He's been addicted ever since, and has been writing about the sport now for nearly a quarter of a century for a number of online news sites. He's also written professionally about GP2 (now Formula 2), GP3, IndyCar, World Rally Championship, MotoGP and NASCAR. In his other professional life, Andrew is a freelance writer, social media consultant, web developer/programmer, and digital specialist in the fields of accessibility, usability, IA, online communities and public sector procurement. He worked for many years in magazine production at Bauer Media, and for over a decade he was part of the digital media team at the UK government's communications department. Born and raised in Essex, Andrew currently lives and works in south-west London.