Red Bull’s Max Verstappen believes his team now has what it takes to mount a Formula 1 title challenge this year, as long as car development goes as planned.

Verstappen is already an eight-time Grand Prix winner, having finished this past season third in the Drivers standings, following Red Bull’s switch from Renault to Honda engines. Yet, he still trailed 2019 F1 champion Lewis Hamilton by a massive 135 points.

Asked by Autosport if he now believes his team can challenge Mercedes at the top, he responded by saying “I think so.”

“I think we are in the right direction. There’s no question about that. Now, it’s just about how much development we can push through. I more or less know, I just hope it’s going to be enough. There are no real changes in the regulations anyway, so you can just build on what you have now. And with a second year working with Honda, I think that should help.”

Also read: Lewis Hamilton Wants To Be Challenged Consistently By Verstappen And Leclerc

The flying Dutchman has previously stated that it will be crucial for his team to get off to a good start as soon as the 2020 F1 season is underway.

“We know that we have to be there from the start if you want to fight for the championship.”

He then went on to say that he was pleased with his team’s execution in 2019, even in races when they weren’t particularly fast.

“[My] consistency overall was good. I think as a team we did a good job as well. We most of the time maximized the result. It was the only thing we could do, especially in the beginning, [when] we couldn’t really fight for wins.”

“But we’re still overtaking Ferraris, when we’re actually slower, or doing a better strategy, stuff like that. So if we can keep that up, then we can have a strong year.”