Horner: "It would be incredible to beat Mercedes on this type of track"

Mercedes looked strong as ever on Friday in Barcelona. Red Bull Racing were a little behind on the timesheets, but the team are confident that they have a competitive car. It will be a challenge to beat Mercedes though, notes Christian Horner.

In the first free practice session Max Verstappen finished second on the grid, behind Valtteri Bottas. In the second free practice, however, he couldn't get any further than ninth place. Verstappen himself said that he is not worried about the pace of the car, and the rest of the team agrees.

"It's always nice to see a good lap time on the board, but we have a good base. Tomorrow we'll put everything together," Horner told Motorsport.com. "During the first session everything was incredibly close, and hopefully that will be the case again tomorrow."

Horner went on to say that if the car works well at this circuit it will be good almost anywhere. "That's encouraging because for the last five or six years Lewis and Mercedes have been dominant here. So if we can get closer here that's very encouraging." The focus, according to Horner, is therefore mainly on keeping up with Mercedes. "The championship is a marathon, not a sprint. It would be great to beat Mercedes on this type of circuit, but at the moment it's about scoring points," said Horner.