Tension at Red Bull in winter: 'Strong start was vital'

Red Bull Racing had a dream start in Bahrain. Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez finished on top in the Bahrain GP and that was vital, according to team boss Christian Horner.

Red Bull felt the punishment during winter

That Red Bull had a good start to the season was much needed. The victory in Bahrain was the first showdown, but during the winter tests it was tense for the team. After all, no major problems were allowed to be brought back from the winter. Because of the wind tunnel penalty, Red Bull wouldn't have time to fix those.

To GPBlog.com and others, Christian Horner tells how the time penalty is felt by the team: "I think you have to look at it over the whole 12-month period. After all, it's not just this car, but also next year's car. I think it's really positive that we don't have fundamental problems that consume those resources and time. It was vital for us to deal well with that penalty and have a solid starting point."

Realistic picture only after Melbourne

The team worked extra focused last winter. So the penalty was felt immediately. It perhaps makes it extra praiseworthy of the team to come out of the starting blocks so strong. Everything the rivals feared turned out to be true. Horner responded evasively when asked if he himself had expected the big lead from his team.

Horner: "You never know. And I think the problem is that we only have one set of data, which is at this track [Bahrain]. So we don't take anything for granted. Let's look again in Jeddah in two weeks, or after Melbourne. I think once we've got two or three races under our belt we will have a much better idea of the weaknesses and strengths of our car and those of the competition."