Photo credits: Oracle Red Bull Racing
Oracle Red Bull racing have claimed six victories from a possible six Grands Prix so far in the 2023 F1 season. Team Boss Christian Horner spoke to media about the dominance being shown by his team but also indicated that no one is getting ahead of themselves as updates to rivals over the course of a season can change the dynamic rapidly.
Mercedes-AMG Petronas won 8 consecutive F1 Constructors’ Championships in between 2014 and 2021. However, Red Bull Racing had claimed 4 Constructors’ Championships in the 4 years preceding that and now Red Bull Racing are once again back out in front. With two teams dominating Formula One since 2010, there are some who feel the spectacle is lost when the front runner is so far out in front but it is surely down to the rival teams to match the level of excellence on show.
Oracle Red Bull Racing have scored more than double the total of points than their closest rival Aston Martin Cognizant Formula One Team. A tally of 249 points has the Milton Keynes based racing team far out in front after only 6 Grands Prix. Even with 14 races to go, speculation is mounting as to whether Red Bull Racing can get through a season unbeaten. This very question was put to Christian Horner post race in Monaco this past weekend.
Having seen Max Verstappen claim his 4th race win of the season Horner replied to the question in his typical good humoured manner.
“You’re trying to get me to do an Arsene Wenger here but I’m not going to,”
Christian Horner’s response was making reference to the legendary Arsenal football club manager who told media in 2002: “It’s not impossible to go through the season unbeaten and I can’t see why it’s shocking to say that.” A statement he was widely criticised and mocked for – but a feat he achieved just two years later.
Christian Horner went on to explain why he feels the outcome of the 2023 F1 Championships is not a foregone conclusion: “There is so much jeopardy – you saw it here with the weather. There are so many factors that can go wrong and the competition is so strong that anything can happen.”
With 14 races to go, the approach at Oracle Red Bull Racing is clear and was confirmed by Horner in his post race remarks “We’re just taking it one race at a time.”
Even when pushed by media to speculate on the possibility of achieving such season long dominance, Horner showed he would not be tempted down that path as he replied: “I don’t think we’re going to allow ourselves to dream about [that]. First of all, it is to maximise every weekend and then let’s see where we end up.”
As rivals attempt to catch Red Bull Racing, the surest path to doing this is through upgrades. No team has made a bigger upgrade during a season so far than the ones Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula One Team unveiled in Monaco.
These upgrades have drawn comparison with Red Bull Racing. Due to this, Horner was asked how he felt about Mercedes running a suspension geometry similar to that of his team’s RB19. The phrase that followed surely brought a smile to the Drive to Survive producers as he said “It’s flattery really.”
In no time at all this was followed up by the question as to whether Christian Horner was surprised it took Mercedes 18 months to flatter him? Once again, Horner’s reply showed he had no intention of falling into any headline making trap.
“You pay much more attention to what they’re doing than I do. We’re focused on our job and what we’re doing and others, if they choose to copy or not, that’s part of Formula 1,” said Horner.
Red Bull Racing have a target on their back with every team out to get them. However, that target is quite some way off down the track already and as such will require something special indeed if they are to be hunted down. Otherwise, it may not be long before the charging bull is out of sight and as such yet another championship (or two) will find their way back to Milton Keynes.
