![\"Christian-Horner-1\"](\"https:\/\/www.racinginfocus.com\/rif\/gallery\/f1-2013-rif-images\/f1-2013-persons\/Christian-Horner-1.jpg\")
“Lewis (Hamilton) and Nico (Rosberg) — who else is there?” he is quoted by the Times after a disastrous winter for reigning quadruple world champions Red Bull.<\/p>\nRed Bull boss Christian Horner is predicting an all-Mercedes silver duel for the 2014 title.<\/p>\n
“Lewis (Hamilton) and Nico (Rosberg) — who else is there?” he is quoted by the Times after a disastrous winter for reigning quadruple world champions Red Bull.<\/p>\n
Horner may not sound confident about Red Bull’s chances with its struggling Renault-powered RB10, but he is not writing off the Milton Keynes based team.<\/p>\n
“If people write us off, that’s their choice,” he said.<\/p>\n
Horner insisted Red Bull is “up for the challenge” of nonetheless climbing a “pretty steep mountain” in 2014, acknowledging that the team’s position right now is not good.<\/p>\n
“It seems the Mercedes-powered teams are in good shape and we are, er, not,” he smiled.<\/p>\n
Renault is taking much of the blame for the crisis, but car designer Adrian Newey admits Red Bull might also have been wiser.<\/p>\n
“Looking back,” he told the April issue of the Red Bulletin magazine, “it would have been smarter to concentrate full power on the new car earlier on.<\/p>\n
“(But) in August, no one could have guessed that we would be so far ahead by the end of the (2013) season,” Newey added.<\/p>\n
Outside Red Bull, there are cries of relief that Red Bull’s run of dominance appears over.<\/p>\n
“One team destroying it for four years, having ass-whipped so badly, is not good for the sport,” Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton is quoted by the Express.<\/p>\n
“I’ve been flying through all these airports and keep bumping into someone from a different country who says they used to watch F1 but not anymore,” he added.<\/p>\n
McLaren’s Jenson Button fully agrees that Red Bull’s problems are good for F1.<\/p>\n
“It’s sad to say we think like that but it’s the case.\u00a0 They’ve been too dominant,” he is quoted by the Telegraph.<\/p>\n
Horner, however, suggested that Mercedes’ advantage could prove just as boring in 2014.<\/p>\n
“If they were to finish two laps ahead of the opposition in Melbourne, that wouldn’t be a surprise, based on what we’ve seen in pre-season testing,” he is quoted by the Mirror.<\/p>\n
“They invested more, they invested earlier.\u00a0 They have got themselves into a good position.”<\/p>\n
Horner claims that with the ‘power unit’ so important in 2014, Red Bull is at a slight disadvantage compared to its main rivals Mercedes and Ferrari.<\/p>\n
“The split between chassis and engine is obviously different in our team than it is at Mercedes and Ferrari,” he is quoted by the Guardian.<\/p>\n
“We’re not totally integrated.”<\/p>\n
But even Dietrich Mateschitz, Red Bull’s billionaire team owner, thinks a change of colour at the top of the order in 2014 could be welcomed by F1.<\/p>\n
“Two hearts beat inside me,” he told German news agency DPA.<\/p>\n
“As a fan, I am glad it is more exciting again — maybe our dominance is at an end.”<\/p>\n
With reports of a recent ‘hissy fit’ already denied, Mateschitz tipped Sebastian Vettel to “cope” with his new position on the grid.<\/p>\n
“I don’t think he will have a problem coping with the current situation,” he said.\u00a0 “Just like the entire team, he accepts the challenge.”<\/p>\n
Vettel, speaking to Austrian Servus TV, agrees: “We were very successful in recent years, achieving many things, but we always knew it would not always be so.”<\/p>\n
Mercedes chairman Niki Lauda would agree with that assessment of the pecking order.<\/p>\n
“I say it reluctantly,” he told the Austrian broadcaster ORF, “but I’m assuming that the first three grid positions (in Melbourne) will have Mercedes engines.”<\/p>\n
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