24-year-old Russell has finished inside the top 5 of every race this season excluding Silverstone and now sits fourth in the drivers’ standings having leapfrogged Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz. The seven-time champion Hamilton, meanwhile, has finished inside the top three in each of the last five races and built some momentum which he will hope to continue after the summer break.
However, despite the improved performances, Toto Wolff’s men are still lacking in pace compared to Red Bull and therefore Horner does not seem too convinced that Mercedes will be in the fight come the end of the season. “I think we’re all surprised that Mercedes weren’t as close or weren’t setting the pace, because they’ve been such a dominant team over the years,” he told Formula.hu.
While Horner admitted Mercedes are improving, he didn’t say that they would definitely be able to compete with them in the second half of the season. “But they’re obviously working on their on their issues, and it just shows how competitive it is. You can see they’re getting closer to the action. I think at certain circuits they could well pose a threat later in the year, ” he added.
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