Team Principal and CEO of Red Bull Racing, Christian Horner praised Max Verstappen’s efforts at the 2023 Canadian GP to win the race in a “controlled” manner despite having a dead bird lodged in his front brake duct and managing tyre degradation whilst many struggled. He also commented on the team’s landmark record of 100 race wins and how far the squad has come since its first triumph in 2009.
Photo Credit: Oracle Red Bull Racing
Verstappen won the Canadian GP in comfortable fashion, but despite that, he faced some unusual challenges whilst out there, mainly the fact that he had a bird lodged into his front brake duct for the majority of the race. The Dutchman was on his way out of turn four on lap 11 when he hit a stranded bird on the exit curb, a hit which he felt and quickly reported over the radio.
Given how temperature-sensitive the brakes in modern F1 cars are, Verstappen and Red Bull were lucky that it didn’t cause them more problems. Speaking after the race, Horner told written media that Verstappen’s biggest threat was indeed the remains of the bird causing further issues on his brakes, given he managed his tyres in a “very controlled” drive in Montreal to be consistent across the stints:
“There were some changes going into [Saturday] and from what I could hear in the race, I think other drivers were struggling as well,” he said. “They struggled to get temperature into the car and generating the energy when there’s only sort of six corners here and long straights.
“To get the heat into the tyre, you could see the lap times were quite variable for all of the drivers at certain points in time where they could generate tyre temperatures.
“But he was able to manage that. The biggest moment he had was hitting a bird that did half the race behind the front right brake duct. But a very very controlled race by him.
“Yes, the remains of the bird [were lodged in his brake duct],” he confirmed.
Victory in Montreal marked Red Bull’s 100th race win in Formula 1, and for Verstappen, his 41st career win, tying the great Ayrton Senna’s mark. Horner said after the race that the team’s vision from its co-founder Dietrich Mateschitz was always to be competitive, but couldn’t imagine just how far the team would reach eventually. The Briton admitted he was satisfied with one race win after their first victory in Shanghai, at the 2009 Chinese GP:
“When we first came into the sport, the ambition was to be competitive and to compete and it was Dietrich [Mateschitz]’s vision, to bring Red Bull in as an entrant, and not just take part but try and be competitive and we won our first race in 2009.
“I remember winning, collecting the trophy that day and getting on the plane to go home that evening and thinking at least we’ve won one, you know, if nothing else happens, we’ve won a race, but it felt so good.”
Horner praised the team’s “unsung heroes” outside of the race track team that allow for such success to be had, crediting it as “testament” to the work of its employees on an levels:
“And who’d have thought 99 victories later, we’d achieve a century, so it’s a landmark for the team. It’s testament to the dedication and the hard work of all the people in the company, track side, behind the scenes and all the support services.
“There are so many unsung heroes that have contributed to this incredible achievement. So it’s something that the whole team is incredibly proud of.”
Red Bull now leads the constructors’ championship by a whopping 154 points after only eight rounds, and looks to be on course to clinch its sixth constructors’ title and second in as many seasons, with Verstappen also looking a comfortable bet to take the drivers’ title for a third consecutive season.
