F1 News

Horner hopeful: Still plenty of opportunities to fight Mercedes

Horner hopeful: "Still plenty of opportunities to fight Mercedes"

07-07-2020 14:07

GPblog.com

Despite Red Bull's disappointing result in the first race in 2020, team boss Christian Horner remains confident. He still thinks he can challenge Mercedes in battle for the title.

Both Max Verstappen and Alexander Albon did not make it to the finish line in Austria last Sunday and therefore did not get any points for Red Bull. Despite the fact that Red Bull had to acknowledge his superiority in Mercedes this weekend both in qualifying and in the race, Horner remains hopeful. "I think that with the RB16 we have the basis for a very good car. It is encouraging that we have driven with Max in a comfortable second position". In the end, Verstappen had to leave the race already after eleven laps due to technical problems. In the end the win went to Valtteri Bottas.

"We have to try to solve some of the balance problems we had in qualifying and hopefully we'll come back stronger," Horner said. When asked if a solution to the balance problems for Red Bull would be enough to threaten Mercedes, the team boss says confidently: "Yes, I think there are enough opportunities to fight Mercedes. Certainly as the season progresses".

Nose

The Red Bull drivers used a different nose on the car. In the end Red Bull wants the drivers to drive with identical material, but it is not yet clear which front end will be used. "The difference was more in the characteristics than in the performance", says Red Bull team boss Horner. "It's not yet clear what material we'll be using next weekend."