After experiencing a weekend to forget at the F1 Austrian GP, Christian Horner talked about Red Bull’s struggles, McLaren’s strengths, and why he still believes Red Bull can pose a challenge in future races.
This past Sunday’s Austrian GP was not the successful home race that Red Bull had hoped for.
Max Verstappen, who was hoping to improve on his P7 starting position, was out on Lap 1 after a collision with Mercedes Driver Kimi Antonelli.
With Verstappen out of the Austrian GP, the McLaren duo was able to extend their Championship lead.
The reigning Champion now sits 61 points adrift from the Championship leader, Oscar Piastri.
Further adding to the horrid Austrian GP weekend was the fact that Tsunoda experienced a race to forget.
The Japanese driver started from the back, facing an uphill battle, but an incident with Colapinto ensued, causing damage and a penalty, which resulted in him being classified in last place.
The team left the Red Bull Ring, its home track, with no points and the Championship almost out of reach.
Red Bull have not turned into idiots
In his print media session following the Austrian GP, Horner acknowledged the great job McLaren was doing, while conceding that Red Bull faces challenges.
Despite the challenges for Red Bull, Horner believes in the team, noting that it’s the same team that won almost every race in the 2023 season as Carlos Sainz prevented a clean sweep at the Singapore GP.
“I believe that we have strength and depth in this team, but unfortunately, we haven’t seen the performance come which we would have liked.
“We’re at the end of a set of regulations, we are compromised by some of the tools we have, but it is the same fundamental group of figures who, 18 months ago, had designed a car which won every single grand prix, bar one.
“They just don’t suddenly become idiots overnight, so you have to acknowledge the great job McLaren is doing and congratulations to them, but for us, it is not just about working harder, because everyone is working incredibly hard, but about working smarter, and let’s see over the next few races.”
Performance swings
After the F1 Austrian GP, it looks increasingly more likely that the Drivers’ Championship will be fought out between the McLaren duo, given the lead they have over the rest of the field.
While McLaren is firmly in the lead, Horner doesn’t believe they are unbeatable and that the pendulum can swing in favour of other teams depending on the track.
Red Bull’s team principal points to the Canadian GP, where both Red Bull and Mercedes were ahead of McLaren.
Going forward, the Briton thus feels it’s essential to focus on the individual races and maximise the team results.
“I think this season the buffer that they have is significant, so it looks very much like a two-horse race.
“For us, we just focus on every single Grand Prix, and you try and grab every opportunity like we did in Imola, Montreal a couple of weeks ago, we were second ahead of the McLarens.
“Last week’s [Canadian GP] race winner [George Russell] was 62 seconds behind the race winner [in the Austrian GP], being caught by a Sauber, so it shows how it shifts around.”
McLaren’s strengths highlighted in the Austrian GP
Horner feels that the high temperatures and track characteristics, particularly the long corners, played into McLaren’s strength and explain their dominance during the Austrian GP.
The Red Bull team principal also highlights McLaren’s tyre management as another factor.
Horner points out that Piastri was able to closely follow Norris in the opening stint without compromising tyre life, which suggests that McLaren has a well-balanced car.
“I think temperature is always one.
“Long corners, they are particularly strong here.
“What’s truly impressive, and for me, I can’t see any other team being able to do it, is when you look at how close Oscar [Piastri] is able to run behind Lando [Norris] with a car fat on fuel at the beginning of the race.
“He’s basically making love to his exhaust pipe for lap after lap after lap, and the tyres are not dying.
“I mean, that to me is their advantage.
“They’ve managed to create a car that really protects its tyres very well and obviously has a good balance.
“I can’t see any other car that would be able to follow that closely and not grain the front tyres or the rear tyres. I don’t really understand.”
