Mercedes have the pace to challenge for victory at the Dutch Grand Prix, Christian Horner has admitted.
Red Bull are very much the favourites once again in Zandvoort after a dominant result last weekend in Belgium. And their cause was strengthened in qualifying on Saturday as Max Verstappen secured pole position – much to the delight of the home crowd.
With team-mate Sergio Perez further back in fifth, the Dutchman's main goal in the early stages of the race will be to fend off the Ferraris breathing down his neck on the grid. But as Horner warned after that qualifying sessions, they will not be the only ones hunting him down.
Mercedes have generally been well off the pace of the top two teams this season, but looked as close as they have been all year in qualifying. Lewis Hamilton starts fourth and it could have been even better had he not been scuppered by Perez's spin, while sixth-placed George Russell is also in contention.
Horner admitted to Sky Sports: "I think we would have counted Mercedes among the contenders at this track anyway, just like in Budapest. They'll be competitive, they've got it right in terms of tyre wear. They're going to be a factor and they have nothing to lose. It's an extra factor for an exciting race."
Hamilton has had to be realistic about what he and his team have been capable of achieving at races this year. So it is perhaps another signal that Mercedes are very much in the fight that he gave a more optimistic view than usual when looking ahead to the race.
"We're close and I hope that we can fight these guys in the race," he said. "It's a difficult race to overtake as we've seen in the past, but we've got nothing to lose, we've got to give it everything.
"If our single lap to race pace delta that we normally have transfers over, then we could be in a good place, and then it's down to the strategy and those sorts of things. I don't think it's going to be overtaking on track necessarily, but I'm just going to keep my hopes up and we'll see what I do."
Russell was similarly bright in his prediction, adding: "I see no reason why we can't fight for a podium. We understand why we were slow in Spa and why we are faster this weekend, so I think these two races have been key to our understanding of how to make a faster car across 23 races."
