Villeneuve doubts Honda can win 2020 title
Jacques Villeneuve does not think Red Bull-Honda can win the 2020 title.
A lot is riding on the team's performance next year, as Max Verstappen will be out of contract and Honda is yet to commit to F1 beyond 2021.
Outspoken 1997 world champion Villeneuve says Red Bull has a "great car", but he questioned the improvement Honda has made this season.
"Honda is not on the same level because they cannot manage to do seven races with just one engine," the Canadian told Germany's motorsport-total.com.
Villeneuve said that if Honda did manage to stick with F1's long-life engine rules, "they would have less power".
But Verstappen admitted to Algemeen Dagblad newspaper that Red Bull-Honda must come out of the blocks strong in 2020, rather than have a big mid-season surge.
"That cannot happen anymore," he said. "We have to be there from the start, not from the summer or the end of the season. From race one," he said. "Everyone here is well aware of that."
But Verstappen is backing his team to be able to win the title in a "very important season" for Red Bull.
"They've proven it in the past, so it's not wishful thinking," he said. "That's why I'm with this team, even though it will not be easy."
Dr Helmut Marko is also sounding very bullish about 2020.
"We stayed below our potential this year," he told Kronen Zeitung newspaper. "The five wins would have been possible."
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Red Bull with Renault engine in 2018 - 4 Wins (Horner slated Renault)
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That's progress for you!
That's all good & well to write that, "ok then" but let's not forget that while RBR had two top-level drivers in 2018 - when Ricciardo won their first two races early in the season & Max won his two races late in the season - they only had the one driver capable of GP wins last season, when Gasly was an absolute disaster in the fist half of the season & even cost Verstappen a likely victory in his final race for RBR at Hungary before the summer break, when he wasn't even able to assist Max & thus Mercedes' gutsy & smart strategy & Hamilton's consistently fast laps after his final tyre change won that race for them.
I was also VERY confident about Max's chances at Mexico but that all went to the $hit after Bottas crashed late in qualifying & then Max was deemed not to have lifted sufficiently for the waved yellow flags & was thus penalised by 5 grid positions & it was all downhill after that.
However, even if RBR had in fact won at Hungary & Mexico with Max, their sole top-level driver, it would have 'only' given them 5 victories for the season & just one more win than they achieved with Renault, so I completely get where you're coming from - it's just that there are mitigating circumstances, particularly the loss of Ricciardo after 2018 & a lack of quality replacement of him, especially re: Gasly, as I do believe that Albon has plenty of potential for the future but I still heavily question his ability to snare a maiden victory this year, his first full season with RBR.