Mercedes not ready to challenge Red Bull - Marko

Mercedes is not currently a threat to Red Bull’s dominance.

That is the claim of Helmut Marko, motor racing consultant to the latter energy drink-owned team that in Australia recently re-established its place at the top of the F1 pecking order.

At the same time, Ferrari surprisingly struggled in Australia, as did Mercedes, while McLaren made a step forward following a dire winter campaign.

"Of course I hope that the world championship is as boring as possible," Marko told Bild newspaper.

Team boss Christian Horner, however, has said he expects "an arms race" this season, and Michael Schumacher insisted last Friday that it is "much too early" to write off Mercedes.

But Marko said Mercedes is not ready to win yet.

"At the moment they are not our direct competitor, but maybe they will be soon. They showed at the last test (in Barcelona) that they have a good car," he said.