Red Bull’s motorsport consultant Helmut Marko does not seem to envisage a three-way battle for the 2020 F1 season.

In 2019, Red Bull driver Max Verstappen became the third strongest driver on the grid with a third place in the drivers’ championship, just behind the two Mercedes drivers Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas.

While in the 2019 constructors’ championship the Scuderia Ferrari is well ahead of Red Bull Racing, Helmut Marko insists that his team caught up with Ferrari in the latter part of the season, suggesting to the former F1 driver that Red Bull Racing will be fighting with Mercedes in 2020.

“Our opponent will be Mercedes and in particular Lewis Hamilton. ” said Helmut Marko for Auto Bild.

“I have to admit that he [Hamilton] drives almost perfectly and today he is the best driver in Formula One. Immediately after him we have Max Verstappen. 

“We passed Ferrari in the last third of the season [2019], and it doesn’t seem that they had an advantage, especially with the engine, as they had before.” concludes Marko.

Helmut Marko, who predicted five Red Bull wins on the eve of the 2019 season (the team has only won three), now believes Red Bull Racing can go on to play for the title in 2020 and has already insisted that his team is ahead of schedule in its preparations for the new season.

“We’ve taken a lesson (in 2019) and next year we won’t have any excuses. Our Honda power unit is on top, Max is also on top, so now we have to deliver a good chassis. 

“At the moment, we are two weeks ahead of schedule. It’s going better than ever.”