Want to win an F1 title? Red Bull, Merc the place to be

London - Dr Helmut Marko thinks drivers wanting to win the 2017 world championship need to be at the wheel of a Mercedes or a Red Bull.

Ferrari began this season as Mercedes' closest challenger, but Red Bull has sped past the great Italian team as the sport enters its August summer shutdown.

Red Bull looking to 2017

Christian Horner, whose drivers Daniel Ricciardo and Max Verstappen were both on the German GP podium behind winner Lewis Hamilton. said: "The goal for this year is to keep second place in the constructors' championship, win more races and then go for the title next year." 

Gerhard Berger, who was the first Red Bull-sponsored athlete, thinks Ricciardo and Verstappen is the ideal pairing for the energy drink owned team.

Berger told Auto Bild: "Maybe already, but certainly by no later than next season, it is the best driving pairing in F1."

Red Bull official Marko - the architect of that lineup - agrees: "Our engine manufacturer Renault is now properly on the gas, our chassis is always one of the best, so it is not arrogant to argue that a driver must be sitting in a Red Bull or a Mercedes to win a title in the next three years."