While Mercedes duo Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg have taken the drivers' title battle to the wire on two occasions in the hybrid era, the Silver Arrows remained unquestionably dominant throughout, clinching the constructors' title with three races to spare in 2014 and with four races left in 2015 and 2016.

Asked whether F1 needed a better title contest in 2017, Horner said: "I think when you see the reaction to a race like Brazil and people were still talking about it a week later, it demonstrates – and just hearing the reaction from the crowd was fantastic – and shows what F1 is capable of.

"We just need to create more weekends like that throughout a year."

While Red Bull had itself won four straight titles in 2010-2013, Horner insisted that period saw "far more competition" - with Ferrari's Fernando Alonso mounting a credible championship challenge in 2010 and 2012.

"Nobody enjoys serial winning. We were accused of it in the four-year cycle we had," Horner said.

"But one of those years there were seven winners in the first seven races. Two of those championships went down to the final grand prix. And it was always a battle either with Ferrari or McLaren or Mercedes towards the end. There was far more competition.

"I think F1 is in desperate need of that competitive element – where you really need three and six drivers going into a grand prix who can be capable of winning it."

Rule change shake-up

While some - Mercedes boss Toto Wolff included - have argued that keeping the current ruleset would've led to continued convergence in performance between teams and engine manufacturers, Horner is firmly among those welcoming the 2017 regulation changes.

"I think changing the rules shakes things up a bit," he said. "I am sure Toto would like to freeze the cars for the next five years.

"But I think a change of regulations presents a great opportunity for us.

"I think we have got a strong team, we have a strong driver pairing and we have all the ingredients to put a strong campaign together for next year – and hopefully really close that gap down to the dominance we have seen from Mercedes."

Horner did say, however, that the arrival of the new regulations will lead to bigger performance gaps between individual drivers.

"It will balance it up a bit and the cars will be more physical, more challenging. It will differentiate the drivers more than we see at the moment.

"The braver drivers will be, for sure, rewarded. And it will be a more exciting spectacle as well because the cars really will be quite something to see, with the kind of cornering speeds they are going to achieve."

Additional reporting by Jonathan Noble