After struggling at the beginning of last season with the new front wing regulations, Red Bull knows what they need to do in 2020 in order to challenge Mercedes and Ferrari right off the bat.

One solution is to continue with the tradition of an early launch for their car, so as to give themselves a full week between the shakedown test and the start of pre-season testing in Barcelona, as reported by Autosport.

This decision, together with the stability of rules, engines and drivers, means that the team’s level of confidence has grown compared to 2019.

Related: Red Bull Expects Honda’s Engines To Match Ferrari And Mercedes In 2020

“There have been factors in recent years – like an engine transition or a front wing change [last year],” said team principal Christian Horner during a Red Bull event in London. “This year, we’ve changed our philosophy as well […] being really earlier.”

“With the stability of regulations, it’s obvious [the] RB16 is very much an upgrade and evolution of RB15. It’s focused on addressing some of its weak spots and building on its strengths. With that continuity, the team is really eager to go toe to toe with particularly Mercedes and take that challenge to them, because it is on those days that teamwork really counts; whether it is world record pit stops, whether it’s getting the strategy right, or of course, reliability.”

While Horner knows that Mercedes are still favorites on paper, he expects his team’s Honda engine to put up an even stronger fight against its main rivals.

“Honda did such a great job in each introduction of an engine last year. They brought more performance, more power, and it feels we’re getting very, very close now to Mercedes.”

“We know we’ve got the drivers to get the job done. So going into this year we feel better prepared earlier than we certainly have for the last five years.”

Could this be the year in which Red Bull leapfrogs Mercedes and Ferrari in order to claim their fifth world championship title? The 2020 Formula 1 season kicks off on March 15 in Melbourne, Australia.