Red Bull expects to cause "mischief" among Mercedes and Ferrari

Horner says Red Bull was boosted by its form in China last week as Daniel Ricciardo secured a front row spot and Daniil Kvyat finished on the podium at a track that should not have suited its package.

With Renault working on bringing a much talked-about development for the Canadian Grand Prix in June, Horner has high hopes that a power boost can be a game-changer.

“Hopefully then we can start to cause a bit of mischief ahead of us,” he said

Still cautious

However, despite having hopes that the Renault upgrade will be a good step, Horner is well aware that progress on the engine dyno does not always carry over to the track.

Last year, Renault brought an upgrade to the final races of the season that did not deliver anywhere near the step forward it had hoped for.

Expressing some caution about the situation, Horner said: “Let's see it first. Pieces of paper are all very easy to look at, but it is the stopwatch that doesn't lie.

“But the guys both in Viry and Milton Keynes are doing a great job and you can genuinely see the progress that is being made.”

No compromise

Even without a dramatic step forward in power, Horner believes that at tracks where straightline speed is not at a premium – so Red Bull can run with proper downforce levels – there is still good potential for success.

“Hopefully at those [circuits without long straights] we can run an optimal set-up for the car,” he said.

“There are some races that suit us better than others, but at a track like China where we didn't expect to be competitive compared to the Williams or the Ferrari, we turned up, qualified on the front row, and came away with a podium and a really competitive race.”