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Hopes of a much closer battle between the
rivals are rising as the sport prepares to start a new season in
Bahrain on Sunday.
Mercedes have won every title since 2014 while Britain's
Hamilton, who can become the first driver to win 100 races, is
bidding for an unprecedented eighth crown.
The 36-year-old and his team may be favourites based on past
performance and stable rules but Red Bull stood out in testing
as Mercedes struggled and Verstappen, best of the rest last
year, has Hamilton in his sights.
"Arguably winning with Max would be our biggest single
achievement in Formula One for the size of the challenge,"
Horner, whose team won four successive title doubles from
2010-13 with Sebastian Vettel, told Reuters.
"They (Hamilton and Mercedes) are absolute titans of the sport
at the moment. I think that it would be our biggest achievement
if we were able to beat them."
Verstappen, 23, is also Formula One's youngest race winner with
the Dutch driver only 18 when he took his first victory for Red
Bull.
Vettel, now with Aston Martin, was also 23 when he became the
youngest champion.
Horner, speaking as his team announced a data partnership with
tech giant Oracle, was under no illusions about the task ahead.
"Lewis is the most successful driver of all time and he’s only
just achieved those records so he’s still at his peak and what
he’s achieved in the sport is unsurpassed," he said.
"He’s going to be a huge adversary this year and he goes into
the season absolutely the favourite to defend his multiple
championship winning run. We are still very much the underdogs
but we are a challenger and will never give up.
"Mercedes are operating at such a high level that we’re going to
have to perform out of our skins to achieve the kind of level to
beat them and beat them consistently," added Horner. "I’m not
even thinking about that or what that would feel like."
Verstappen won two races last year to Hamilton's 11, with the
champion starting only 16 of the 17 after testing positive for
COVID-19.
"Max is in great shape. I think we’ve got a decent car to get
the season under way with and it’s down to us to provide a
competitive car," said Horner.
Red Bull have a changed line-up this year with experienced
Mexican Sergio Perez -- a winner in Bahrain last December --
replacing Thai youngster Alex Albon alongside Verstappen in what
promises to be the longest season of 23 races.
"He’s super-motivated. He knows this is the biggest chance of
his career and he’s determined to take it with both hands," said
the team boss.
"I’ve been impressed with how he’s applied himself so far."
(Reporting by Alan Baldwin, editing by Toby Davis)
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