Falling short of his pre-season prediction of five race wins, Helmut Marko concedes Red Bull was “below” its potential in the first half of the campaign.

Despite Red Bull teaming up with Honda for the first time this season, Marko went into the 2019 campaign feeling rather bullish.

The Red Bull advisor predicted “five” race wins for the team and reiterated that following Max Verstappen’s Austrian GP triumph.

The Dutchman, though, would only go on to add a further two wins to the team’s tally.

“We stayed far below our potential,” Marko told Kronen Zeitung.

“Five victories should have been possible.

“The reasons for this, on the one hand were unfortunate circumstances such as various crashes and on the other hand, the Honda engine and chassis only began to improve later in the season.”

Next season, though, Marko is already expecting better from the Red Bull-Honda package.

The Austrian reckons Red Bull will be “at the front from the first race” of the season.

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