Ferrari are the benchmark - Horner

Red Bull boss Christian Horner believes that Ferrari's recent performances, and the performances of their customers, Haas and Sauber, means that the engine of the Prancing Horse is now the "benchmark" for Formula One cars to try and replicate or better.

The recently-completed triple-header of the French, Austria, and French Grand Prix races has been successful for Ferrari, who have leapfrogged Mercedes as the leaders in the 2018 constructor rankings.

Haas and Sauber, who both utilise Ferrari power units, have also improved, and Horner thinks this is proof of Ferrari's power at the moment.

"I think it’s setting the benchmark now," the Red Bull boss said.

"Haas and Sauber as well having made good gains. We’re [Renault-powered teams] probably further outside."

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Red Bull's disadvantage in recent races, particularly in Britain, was their alleged lack of speed on straights compared to Ferrari and Mercedes. This has been partly attributed to the car's high downforce set-up, but Horner believes they simply lack power, too, and hopes to gain some speed when Honda replaces Renault as their engine provider.

"You can see the situation between the engines is very similar at the moment, and it is all about the potential development." Horner continued,

"This weekend [Silverstone] has been a very tough weekend for Renault.

"It just very clearly defines where the level is at. You can’t hide behind the statistics we saw. There is a gap to fill and hopefully in Honda we have a lot of belief what they have coming in the pipeline."