Red Bull on alert for Mercedes: "I'm sure they'll hit back hard"

Max Verstappen and Red Bull Racing are on top of the driver and constructor championship. While Mercedes also points to Red Bull as the favourite for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, Christian Horner doesn't want to go along with that.

Verstappen took the win in Monaco with ease on Sunday, and with Lewis Hamilton at P7 and Valtteri Bottas out after a pit stop error, Verstappen and Red Bull now lead the standings. Helmut Marko was somewhat surprised by the disappointing Hamilton though.

Pressure on Mercedes

''Yes. I was especially surprised that Hamilton drove the whole race behind Gasly, without doing anything. But this mainly shows: when they are under pressure, mistakes are made'', Red Bull Racing's top man told Sky Sports Deutschland. Still Red Bull is under no illusions, because according to Horner Mercedes will just be there again in Baku.

''We are under no illusions for that weekend. I'm sure Mercedes will hit back hard. That is also a very different street circuit, with a lot more straights. Mercedes have always been strong there in the past. But we have to look at ourselves and approach the weekend in the same way as we did the past race weekend'', the Red Bull team boss concludes to Motorsport.com.