Horner believes Ferrari is running 'some pretty juicy fuels'

Aston Martin Red Bull Racing boss Christian Horner has taken his hat off to Ferrari following its hat-trick of wins, insisting the Scuderia is now the benchmark in F1's engine department.

Ferrari's back-to-back wins at power circuits Spa and Monza validated the outstanding qualities of the SF90's engine.

But Sebastian Vettel's performance in Singapore also highlighted the massive step forward taken by the Ferrari's aerodynamic challenge.

A highly impressed Horner doesn't believe the Scuderia has uncovered a "silver bullet" in terms of engine development but suggests the squad's power surge is the result of a combination of factors.

"They are pushing the boundaries and you have to think some of it is coming from the electrical power, the combustion I think they’ve got some pretty juicy fuels that they’re running as well.

"It’s probably a combination. These things are never usually a silver bullet, it’s probably a combination of factors," Horner told Channel 4.

Since the advent of the hybrid era in F1 in 2014, Mercedes has set the standard in terms of power, efficiency and engine reliability.

• 'Realist' Hamilton says Ferrari now 'very hard to beat

But Ferrari's engineering prowess this season has likely allowed the House of Maranello to jump ahead of it Silver Arrows rival.

For Horner, Mercedes now knows what it feels like to play second fiddle on the engine front.

"It’s extremely impressive, they are the benchmark in the engine department in Formula 1 at the moment," he said.

"Mercedes were there for four-and-a-half years and suddenly, they’ve got a dose of our medicine, looking at the speed traces going ballistic.

"Hats off to the Ferrari guys, they’ve found a way of extracting that horsepower and it’s up to the rest of the competition to narrow that gap."

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