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Whitmarsh not underestimating Red Bull threat

Martin Whitmarsh is expecting Red Bull to fight back in Valencia © Getty Images

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Despite taking 1-2 finishes at the last two races, McLaren boss Martin Whitmarsh is not underestimating Red Bull's ability bounce straight back at the European Grand Prix.

Red Bull made a mistake with its tyre strategy at the highly-unpredictable Canadian Grand Prix, which saw its two drivers finish fourth and fifth and drop behind the McLaren pairing in the championship. But Whitmarsh is wary that Red Bull will be back on form at the next race and said there were three factors that would ultimately decide the title; making the most of opportunities; a team's experience; and continued development. Although he expects Red Bull to put up a fight, he believes McLaren has the better overall package

"A lot of titles are won by making the most of opportunities, and we have won championships on that basis, and lost them by not doing so as well," said Whitmarsh. "Adrian [Newey, Red Bull's technical] has won some, so he has a fair bit of experience. But overall this team overall is pretty battle hardened. We've been through a lot of championship fights, so have both of our drivers and they know how tough it is. We probably have a bit more experience in our team than Red Bull Racing, and the drivers and this team are very determined to make sure we carry on winning races.

"But we don't underestimate Red Bull. They are going to come back strongly because they have not won a championship, and they are determined to do so. Ferrari is there as well, and at the moment you cannot rule out Mercedes, even though they have slipped back a little."

Whitmarsh said that his team would continue to push as hard as possible between races, but said its next big development would come at the British Grand Prix in July.

"We have to make sure we continue to develop the car," he said. "We have an underlying development programme where we are trying to save 0.15 to 0.25 seconds every race, and if you do that in four races then that is one second. We have a reasonably big upgrade we are fighting to have for Silverstone, and if that is there I would be disappointed if it is not a much bigger step than that.

"If we fail to develop the car we will get overhauled and beaten by more than just Red Bull. It's a classic case of if we don't develop the car at a quick enough pace, we will not win races and we will not win this championship."

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