Horner 'chucking out form book' in Red Bull Mercedes battle

Red Bull team principal Christian Horner believes it is time to throw out the form book as the F1 battle with Mercedes heads into the closing stretch.

Both championships are evenly poised as Max Verstappen leads Lewis Hamilton in the drivers' standings by 12 points, while Red Bull trails Mercedes by 23 points in the constructors' table.

Yet Red Bull would appear to now have the edge over its rival, notably performing a damage-limitation exercise in Mercedes' stronghold of Russia where Verstappen was second behind Hamilton after starting from last on the grid.

In the United States Grand Prix at the weekend, where Hamilton had won five times, it was Verstappen who came away with the win and Red Bull who cut Mercedes' lead in the constructors' championship as Sergio Perez was third.

Heading into Mexico, Red Bull are clear favourites given its superior form at that track since its return to the calendar in 2015, yet Horner said: “You’ve got to chuck the form book away.

"It’s very tight between the two teams and while Mexico has been a good track for us it’s been a good track for them as well on occasion so we don’t underestimate them.

“Hopefully we will be strong there but it is so close between the two teams. The gap has been a tenth or two [of a second] at every single race, so I don’t see any reason why it would be any different in Mexico.”

Horner warns points lead over Hamilton can disappear quickly

Despite Red Bull performing well at circuits where it was felt Mercedes would be the stronger team, Horner insists the last few races have not raised confidence levels.

"There are five races to go, another 130 points on the board and we’ve only got a 12-point lead," added Horner.

"It's great to have extended it because with 10 laps to go [in the USGP] it looked like we might be leaving equal or behind [as Hamilton closed on Verstappen].

"So to have extended the lead was a great result. We’ve got some big races coming up and you’ve got to attack because 12 points are nothing.

"It can disappear very, very quickly, as we have seen previously, so we’ve got to keep attacking the race weekends and get the most out of them that we possibly can.

“With five to go, the pressure only gets bigger.”

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