Red Bull: Hungarian GP win vs "mighty" slow-speed Mercedes difficult

The tight and twisty confines of the Hungaroring circuit should in theory suit the Red Bull-Honda package, but Red Bull team principal Horner thinks the form between F1's top three teams has changed this year.

Horner said he believes Mercedes has turned a traditional weakness on slow-speed circuits into one of its core strengths.

Asked by Autosport if he believed Red Bull would start the Hungary weekend as favourite, Horner said: "Hungary is a track we enjoy going to.

"But Mercedes's slow corner performance is pretty mighty, and I think they're going to be tough opponents."

Red Bull has reason for optimism that it can at least launch a challenge based on the recent progress it has made with its RB15, given the car has won two of the last three races in Max Verstappen's hands.

Horner is convinced Red Bull has unleashed some of the car's strong potential, but feels the team must find more speed if it is to challenge Mercedes more often.

"We have been getting more performance on the car," he said.

"The chassis's been getting better, the engine's been getting better and I think we have got some good stuff in the pipeline for the second half of the year.

"We've got stable regulations from 2019 into '20, so whatever we learn this year applies to next year.

"So we want to keep the trajectory going the way we are."

Red Bull's motorsport advisor Helmut Marko still has his sights set on five wins this year, but Horner said he does not want to set the team specific targets.

"I never talked about five wins," he said. "Helmut, that's his objective and optimism. I take each race at a time.

"We've won two grands prix, which is fantastic given this is a transitional year with Honda.

"For Honda, if you think about the results they were getting a year or two ago, it's a phenomenal turnaround."