Mercedes technical director James Allison says the German outfit is bracing for a strong challenge this season from Red Bull's Max Verstappen.
Formula 1 confirmed this week an opening run of eight European races, starting with a double-header at the Red Bull Ring in Austria, a venue where Verstappen is undefeated in the past two years.
But after Austria, the sport will move on to the Hungaroring, a track typically well suited to Red Bull's machines.
These facts aren't lost on Allison who offers a clear indication of where Mercedes' main opposition will come from when the racing resumes.
"There's no doubt that Max is going to be a formidable opponent for us this year," Allison said on an F1 Nation podcast.
"Ferrari too showed glimpses of some form in pre-season testing, [but] we would imagine that Max will again be strong in Austria because Red Bull are always super-pumped up there – and they've got a bit of a track record."
Mercedes unexpectedly under-performed at the Red Bull Ring in 2019, mainly due to cooling issues impacting its W10 Silver Arrows at Spielberg.
But past history isn't necessarily an indication of future performance suggests Allison.
"Our campaign in Austria last year was hampered by our own mistakes on the cooling side, which meant that we were chugging around way off the actual natural pace of the car," explained the Mercedes tech boss.
"And the year before, [we were] hampered by some unreliability and rather clumsy moves around the Safety Car.
"So, I think we're all looking forward to getting to Austria, and maybe showing a bit more of what we're capable of than the slight underperformance that we put in in the previous two seasons."
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