Red Bull Racing team boss Christian Horner reflected post-race in Austin as to why the RB20 performed so different for Max Verstappen on race day. As well as this, the man steering the ship explained his hope for Sergio Perez with the Mexican driver’s home race being next up on the F1 race calendar.
24 hours makes a big difference in Formula One. Having been victorious in the Sprint, Max Verstappen looked very much like he was back and it would be business as usual (or at least as the last 3 seasons had been – bar the last few months). Also, having been on a flying lap prior to George Russell’s end of qualifying incident bringing out double yellow flags, there was every chance the Dutchman could have snatched pole from Lando Norris. However, come race day, Red Bull Racing’s RB20 looked a very different beast.
Team boss Christian Horner was asked post-race what the difference was between the car yesterday and that of today driving-wise for the man leading the championship as he had to settle for P3 behind an impressive pair of Ferraris.
In comments made before Horner could attend the debrief, he did his best to identify the issue.
“I need to go to the debrief shortly, but I think we just, we seemed to engineer into the car a bit more understeer today.” Horner explained. “And that then sort of killed the front tyres, and compared to yesterday where we didn’t have any understeer, the car was very quick.”
During the race, Max’s race engineer GP had mentioned there was an issue for Verstappen in the first stint and Horner explained in his post-race remarks that this was relative to the understeer that Verstappen had in the car so it was really about how much front wing to put into the car, for the hard tyre.
The RB20 was quick in Austin, a point Horner delighted in commenting on.
“We were quick, quick enough to get the pole for the Sprint, won the Sprint, and had good degradation in the Sprint and the McLaren looked to be the one that was fading.”
The Woking-based manufacturer had a race to forget after Lando Norris started on pole and crossed the line P4. Instead though, it was Ferrari who took the headlines and the plaudits after Charles Leclerc drove to a commanding victory with teammate Carlos Sainz taking the second step of the podium. Horner was quick to praise those in the Ferrari ranks but also had a comment on what could have been.
“Ferrari have looked quick all weekend, in fairness. And then, arguably we should have had the pole yesterday. We had a car that was very strong in quali. And then the weakest that we’ve been has been really on the hard tyre with a bit too much understeer throughout the race.”
Despite the issues on Sunday, the RB20 was very much improved compared to recent months and Horner was asked as to whether this is the result of the updates or as a result of having a better understanding during the break.
“I think it’s a combination of factors.” Horner said. “I think the team have worked very hard, and I think they’ve definitely added performance here. I think there’s more to understand and more to fine-tune. But I think coming off the back of Singapore, I think it’s been a strong turnaround.
“We’ve outscored our nearest competitor in the Drivers’ Championship by five points this weekend. So, three weeks ago that looked very difficult.”
Three weeks ago, the Constructors’ Championship also looked very different but now Ferrari are just 8 point behind Red Bull Racing who for their part are now 40 points behind McLaren at the top of the standings.
“Ferrari, again, congratulations to them this weekend.” Red Bull’s team boss remarked. “They’ve been very, very strong. And they’ve got two drivers that are competing at the front.
And McLaren, likewise, their drivers are – there’s not a big deficit between them. So, that’s where we really need for the Constructors’ to have Checo come into play.”
Verstappen saw the US Grand Prix conclude with him now taking 57-point advantage ahead of his closest rival Lando Norris. With 5 races to go, Horner reiterated that nothing’s ever comfortable or assured, but it was important for the team to finally outscore Norris once again. The man leading Red Bull explained: “That was important for us to get off the back foot and more onto the front foot.”
Having mentioned Verstappen’s teammate’s form and with Mexico next up on the F1 calendar, it was put to Horner as to what his thoughts are with regard to the pressure that Perez will face this weekend.
“Well, hopefully, with the support he’ll receive in Mexico, it’ll, again, it’ll give him that boost. So, obviously, when you qualify out of position, you lose so much time coming through tail-end cars in the top ten that you’ve then lost contact with the rest of the race.”
Perez finding form and battling at the front once again is much needed for Red Bull as they hope to chase down McLaren and keep Ferrari at bay. Horner reflected on the form of their closest rivals in the standings as he said it is “moving from day-to-day, circuit-to-circuit.”
“I think Ferrari have brought performance here. They’ve looked very strong, particularly in the race trim. It was interesting. Obviously, they sacrificed perhaps a little in quality to benefit in the race, and I’m sure they’ll be competitive in Mexico City.”
Fans of Red Bull Racing will have been delighted by what they saw in Austin this past weekend. Team boss Horner explained that the current upgrades have brought the balance a bit closer together, so the disconnect that there had been between front and rear now had more of a balance into the car. Horner revealed that this had been felt really from the first lap on the Austin asphalt and “Max was much more competitive. He was much happier with the car as soon as we got here.”
A happy Max Verstappen is an ominous prospect for much of the grid. The first of this tripleheader went well for Red Bull Racing and it is very realistic to say that it could have gone event better. Horner said that this is as much as the team could have hoped for coming out of the back of Singapore – but one can imagine that team is once again hoping (and expecting) even better to come in the remaining races of the season.
