Mercedes, Ferrari & Renault can't 'keep up' with Honda - Red Bull

Red Bull motorsport advisor Dr Helmut Marko says the likes of Mercedes, Ferrari and Renault will be unable to "keep up" with the rate of development that Honda will bring to Formula 1 in 2019. Red Bull have been bullish over their prospects for next year after ditching Renault for the Japanese manufacturer.

Sebastian Vettel's four consecutive world titles, as well as the team's runoff constructors' crowns, were powered by Renault, but the French marque have struggled since the inception of the V6 hybrid era, dominated by Mercedes.

Honda returned to F1 in 2015 with McLaren, but their best result in that time is a fourth-placed finish at this year's Bahrain Grand Prix, secured by Pierre Gasly for Toro Rosso.

The Frenchman will step up to Red Bull next year and Marko is certain that the gamble will reap rich rewards.

"With Toro Rosso everything is working perfectly," Marko told Servus TV.

"Next year Honda will make a much bigger effort. They have a development centre in Sakura which nobody can keep up with.

"The Japanese have a different culture and a different way of working. You learn that over time.

"Our approach with Honda is different than McLaren's. They were telling them how they wanted the engine to be built, we just say, 'build the fastest engine possible for us, then we will try to fit it into the chassis'.

"We don't have any demands, we discuss everything together."

With the Red Bull-Renault relationship having broken down so spectacularly in recent years, all eyes will be on the battle between the two teams in F1 next year.

"We have lost faith in Renault," said Marko.

"Honda is a partner who is committed, has the financial and technical resources and we are the number one team for them.

"The performance of Toro Rosso is showing that they are clearly making progress. I am sure that next year we are going to be far ahead of Renault."