Red Bull chief Christian Horner believes the 2019 Formula 1 season is “very much a Mercedes championship” following the German manufacturer’s “exceedin🍌gly dominant” start to the year.

Mercedes is enjoying its best-ev🍌er start to an F1 season after claiming five straight one-two finishes from the opening five rounds of the campaign.

Lewis Hamilton currently holds the championship lead, with the first non-Mercedes driver, Max Verstapp꧂en, sitting third and 46 points adrift of the Briton. Mercedes also boasts a near 100-point lead over its chief r🥂ival Ferrari in the constructors’ standings.

“I think it’s very much a Mercedes champ🐷ionship, you can see after five races th💛ey are three points off a maximum score,” Horner said following the Spanish Grand Prix.

“It’s still a long year and we take things race-by-♐race. They had a really dominant performance. They're always strong in Barcelona but certainly their fifth one-two finish is exceedingly dominant.”

Asked if he feels Mercedes can go on to win all 21 races, Horner replied: “I doubt it. 21 races to achieve 21 victories, you can🐬 never say never but it would be a hell of an achievement.”

Despite Mercedes’ cur💟rent stranglehold at the top of F1’s pecking order, Horner reckons 🌌the reigning world champions can be overthrown in the coming years.

“Anybody can be beaten. Formula 1 is🍒 all about team♕work, it’s the biggest teams in the world,” he said.

“Mercedes at the moment are on the crest of a wave but that never lasts forever and our job is to ensure that we have all the tools and ca♛pability to take that challenge to them in the com🌳ing years.”

Having overs♚een a period of prolonged Red Bull success between 2010 and 2013, Horner said he can sympathise with🍒 Mercedes boss Toto Wolff amid criticism that the team’s domination is hurting the sport.

“It’s not your job [to ♏worry about making F1 boring], running a team you’re responsible for the speed of ꦰyour cars,” Horner explained.

“Of course that’s slightly conflicted because the fan in you wants it to be exciting, so the most excitin❀g championships we won were in 2010 when it went down to the wire with [Fernando] Alonso and [Lewis] Hamilton and our two drivers and 2012 when it went right to the wire with Fernando.

“Your sense of achievement then is something very specia🎐lꦜ, but when you’re running a team your responsibility is the team.”