Mercedes boss Wolff sees competition approaching: "I am happy for them"

Red Bull Racing have shown great promise in their preparations for the new season. During the first Grand Prix in Bahrain they showed no evidence of this, because Max Verstappen was able to compete with Mercedes until the last lap. Toto Wolff, team boss of Mercedes, expects a lot from their competitor this season.

Verstappen started the race in P1 at the end of March, but lost out due to an undercut by Mercedes. A few laps from the end, he did overtake Lewis Hamilton, but gave back the lead as he passed the Englishman outside the track at turn four.

However, the action showed how close the Red Bull and Mercedes cars are. "Honda did a great job, they delivered an extremely competitive powerplant," Wolff explained to Formule1.nl. "Just look at where Alpha Tauri was on Saturday with a fifth starting spot for Pierre Gasly. We have to take this one on the chin, that's how it stands for now. Then you have to admit that they have got it right this year. Period."

Red Bull drove a Renault engine until 2019, but the team experienced many problems with it. Therefore, the Formula 1 team made the decision to switch to Honda at the end of 2018. Where in the first season there were still some hiccups, the engine is promising this season.

Wolff: "Honda is a proud company and I was convinced that they would do everything they could to deliver one more powerful engine for the final year. It's a good motivation for us, I'm happy for them."