It began with the upbeat, infectious positivity that new relationships often do, and though their partnership has yet to be put to the ultimate test, the love affair that is Red Bull and Honda continues.

While there is every reason to feel upbeat, with both Honda-powered teams looking strong in pre-season testing, Pierre Gasly's crash on the penultimate day meant that we never got to see the RB15 really stretch it legs in Barcelona.

Consequently, we have to wait until next Saturday afternoon to see where Red Bull - and Toro Rosso - actually lie in the grand order of things, and whether Christian Horner and Co have the right to be as optimistic as they insist they are.

Indeed, buoyed by the tests, Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko is predicting "at least" five wins for the Austrian team, which will only be out-paced by Ferrari.

"Ferrari are favourite," he tells Motorsport-Magazin. "Ferrari were quick as if they had already done a test for a week.

"We were on the back foot due to Gasly's two accidents and the resulting loss of time," he admitted. "We brought things that did not fully develop due to Gasly's crashes. Especially the second crash which was completely unnecessary. He must clearly show more discipline."

Nonetheless, he insists: "We will win at least five races, though the tracks on which we are competitive need to be broader," he admitted, a reference to the fact that in 2018 the Red Bull was only truly competitive on certain track.

Asked where he believes Red Bull stands in the pecking order, he replied: "It's hard to say, but we think we're between Ferrari and Mercedes."

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READERS COMMENTS

1. Posted by Tardis40, 11/03/2019 2:41

"I never new that Marko had such a good sense of humor."

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2. Posted by Rock Doc, 11/03/2019 2:22

"Yes and Williams will place second in the championship.

"

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3. Posted by F1nerd, 10/03/2019 8:58

"Dream on kiddo"

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4. Posted by Yeyox02, 09/03/2019 22:10

"Five wins is totally mediocre Marko. You have got two teams - RB and TR - so at least you should get between 15 or 20 wins because you have been saying that Honda is perfect, hence no excuses and that is it."

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5. Posted by Ro, 09/03/2019 17:53

"No chance! 3 maybe. Merc and Ferrari will have 8 each"

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6. Posted by klmn, 09/03/2019 16:05

"Zak will have regrets that he followed Alonso's advise..
"

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7. Posted by Burton, 09/03/2019 14:31

"5? Why not 42? And already throwing Gasly under the bus..."

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8. Posted by mickl, 09/03/2019 13:42

"Notice he didn't say 5 wins in 2019......."

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Marko predicting "at least" five wins for Red Bull

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