Christian Horner believes the 2016 Formula 1 season is going to be a “year of two halves” for the Red Bull team but warned rivals not to write off his squad.

Red Bull spent a large part of the 2015 season searching for a new engine partner after its relationship with Renault fell apart before it opted to continue the deal with rebadged Tag Heuer power units for 2016.

Speaking at the launch of the team’s new livery, Horner explained that continuing with Renault power meant Red Bull was not expecting to be competitive in the opening part of the season, but it hopes to make progress throughout the year.

He said: “It’s going to be a season of evolution for us. I think that it’s probably going to be a season of two halves, the first half is going to be less competitive than the second but we’re expecting to make significant progress during the year.

“Most people have written Red Bull off for this year, but we’re fighters and we’re focussed on getting ourselves into a competitive position. I think it would be foolhardy to write a team off with the calibre of people that Red Bull has in it.”

Horner also believes that Renault’s decision to buy back the Lotus team demonstrated the manufacturer’s commitment to improving its F1 power unit, but he acknowledged it would not be a quick fix due to the complex nature of engine building.

He said: “With the commitment that Renault have made with owning their own team and a bit of restructuring, we’re starting to see progress coming out of Paris that we’re hopeful in our Tag Heuer badged engine will propel us to a more competitive place.

“The power unit it such a significant part of the competitiveness. They seem to be making the right investments to have a competitive power unit.

“Now unfortunately the lead times with engines are significantly longer than with a chassis, but we’re expecting to have a step forward in performance as we go to Melbourne and then further steps with each introduction of engine throughout the year.”

Daniel Ricciardo, who scored three F1 wins in his first year with Red Bull in 2014, explained that the team would not have continued in the sport if it did not believe it could regain its competitiveness.

He said: “At first there were different emotions [to the Renault deal] because we were trying to get out and have a change [because] we felt we needed a change and a change could be better.

“Then none of it worked so we went back to the drawing board with Renault and tried to assess if it was worth staying in the sport because we want to be competitive.

“For me it’s reassuring because I don’t think the team would have signed up for another year of racing if we didn’t feel we could make big gains with the power unit.”

Ricciardo also reiterated Red Bull’s expectation that it will not to be fighting at the front when the season gets underway, but he is confident Renault will supply bigger upgrades in 2016 now that it is a full works outfit once again.

He said: “I have confidence but I’m not blinded by the massive step we have to make. It’s not going to happen in the first four or five races, but I think there will be some real developments this year rather than the little bits and pieces we had last year.”

Toro Rosso ahead of Red Bull

Horner confirmed he thought Red Bull’s junior outfit Toro Rosso would start the new season ahead of the main team due to the gains from the 2015 Ferrari power unit it will use this year.

"To start the year, yes [Toro Rosso will be ahead]. But I think that will, hopefully, change throughout the course of the year."

“Toro Rosso has bolted in 0.8 of a second into their car just through a different power unit. That is a significant amount of performance. We’re hoping to make similar gains throughout the year but obviously the chassis is going to have to really try prop that up.”

Crash tests passed

Horner confirmed that Red Bull had passed the FIA’s mandatory crash tests, the final team to do so, just an hour before the livery launch began. Although that is just five days before the first test gets underway in Barcelona, Horner explained that that decision was part of the team’s approach to F1.

He said: “We hadn’t done any crash tests before Monday of this week and we completed them all in three days, the last one about an hour ago.

“We take risks, other teams might not dream of [by] completing the crash test one week before the first test, but that is the way we roll. It’s the way our DNA is and the competitive drive within the team.”