Red Bull Racing team boss Christian Horner believes Ferrari has raised the bar this season in terms of engine performance as the 'ballistically fast' straight-line speed of its SF90 in China has demonstrated.
After the Scuderia's failed opening salvo in Melbourne, the Italian outfit lived up to the expectations generated by its performance in pre-season testing, with an emphasis on the progress achieved over the winter by Ferrari's engine department.
GPS data collected by Mercedes in Bahrain pointed to a significant advantage enjoyed by Maranello's SF90 in terms of straight-line speed, a benefit that was showcased again in Shanghai where Sebastian Vettel topped Friday's opening practice session.
"They’ve done a great job," said Horner, speaking to Sky F1 after FP2.
"They’re ballistically fast on the straights and they’re obviously carrying a lot of wing as well so it’s down to us to try and catch them.
"But they are certainly the gold standard at the moment. It’s impressive even compared to a Mercedes."
Red Bull Racing's switch from Renault to Honda power over the winter generated hopes of the team being able to challenge its front-running rivals.
While Honda's unit has yet to bridge the power gap with Ferrari and Mercedes, the Japanese manufacturer has made clear progress insists Horner.
"We’ve made a step. I don’t know whether it’s as big as the other teams, but it’s certainly coming," added Horner.
"Honda worked on it very hard over the winter and definitely we have more performance in qualifying than we do in the race. That’s good to see.
"As different engines are introduced this year, that will only increase."
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