Red Bull team principal Christian Horner says that Mercedes' new suspension upgrade could give them a significant boost in the final races of the Formula 1 season.

Strong intrigue has circulated Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes ever since they introduced their new suspension upgrade. This upgrade lowers the rear of the car when hitting high speeds—resulting in further drag reduction to increase top speed. The new suspension played an integral role in their F1 Turkish Grand Prix success.

Christian Horner believes that although it didn't quite have the same effect in the U.S. Grand Prix, it could be a whole different story for the last 5 races of the season. He notes that though it is a powerful upgrade, it doesn't appear to be illegal in any form.

Via Jonathan Noble of Motorsport:

“I think that Mercedes are obviously optimising a straightline device that they're able to do at that type of circuit,” Horner told Sky F1 in Austin during FP1. “If you look at the rear of their car, how it lowers, I think [Turkey] played to their strengths.”

“It will have a greater influence at some tracks than others,” said Horner. “It was a reduced effect here [in the United States] but somewhere like Jeddah for example, it could be quite powerful.”

“We don’t feel that it is illegal, no,” said Horner. “It's something that has been used historically [in Formula 1]. We've seen it used by them in the past.

As the Formula 1 season comes to a close, it is vital for Red Bull and Mercedes to take every opportunity that crosses their paths. Max Verstappen will still look to take full advantage of Red Bull's strengths in Mexico and Brazil—but it'd be criminally wrong to count out the 7-time F1 world champion.