With the current season nearly wrapped up, teams’ focus will lie on 2021. One team wanting to make a statement of intent is Red Bull Racing.

The Milton Keynes-based team have been second in the table for a long time now. However, they have failed to put up an actual fight for the title against a rampant Mercedes, who are 253 points ahead of them.

With a more powerful engine for next year courtesy of Honda, Red Bull’s intentions remain simple – to get closer to Mercedes, and challenge their drivers for race victories.

Horner believes Red Bull need to keep working hard

Red Bull boss Christian Horner is quoted as saying, “So you can’t give up. Mercedes have hit a sweet spot and come up with an incredible car this year, but we are not just going to roll over and give it [the titles] to them next year.

“Anything is possible if you keep working hard at it. Mercedes have demonstrated that and we demonstrated it before that,” said a determined Horner.

Red Bull have experience winning both the drivers’ and constructors’ championships. They went on a stellar run between 2010-2013, before Mercedes bossed the turbo hybrid era, and went on a streak of their own.

With other teams not quite as close to Mercedes in a sense of overall balance, faith will rest in Red Bull to be genuine contenders in 2021. However, there are a few things to sort out before we can actually call them that.

The team might face changes in some aspects going forward

First and foremost is the reliability and performance of the Honda power unit. Having faced a number of retirements this season, the engine needs to be competent enough to challenge Mercedes.

Another point of discussion will be about the engine supplier post 2021. If there is to be a repeat of Mercedes’ dominance, Red Bull will need a solid power unit to compete in 2022.

There have also been all kinds of rumors linking drivers to the second Red Bull seat. Albon is not nearly good enough to challenge Bottas and Hamilton. Thus, the team will also need a capable enforcer beside Max Verstappen.

A lot of things will need to culminate for Red Bull to win one or both titles. However, with a few promising signs ahead of next year, Red Bull fans can well be assured of a genuine challenge to knock Mercedes off their perch.