Horner trusts Red Bull philosophy: "Then hopefully we can give them a harder time"

Red Bull Racing managed to close the gap to Mercedes in 2020 and could potentially challenge for the title in 2021. However, the question is whether Red Bull will fall back into Mercedes' trap again and are facing a backlog at the start of 2021.

In recent years, Mercedes has always been the team to beat, usually pulling away from Ferrari and Red Bull Racing who are fighting for second place. At the end of each year, Red Bull are much closer, but at the start of the new season, the gap has widened again. With the new floor for 2021, there is a chance that this will happen again.

Red Bull are chasing Mercedes

"It is difficult to know how it affects other teams, but of course it has an impact. It is a sensitive area of the car. We have been testing some components (in Abu Dhabi), as you saw on Friday," said Christian Horner in a press session from Red Bull. The Austrian team boss is not afraid of the same scenario as in recent years.

"There's a significant amounts of carry over. Think of the gearbox, chassis and elements of the suspension. Our philosophy has been whatever you learn this year, you carry into next year anyway. However, Mercedes is also a strong team. Of course I expect them to be strong in 2021, but if we can build on this momentum, then hopefully we can give them a harder time," Horner added. 

Better balance for the RB16

However, Red Bull have clearly taken steps with the RB16 in 2020. The car seemed very unpredictable at the beginning of the year, so Max Verstappen and Alexander Albon often went into a spin. At the end of 2020, this is much less the case and Horner also clearly indicates that this part has been improved.

"We have improved the car signifciantly and understood what the issues are. Hopefully, that can be further addressed as we go into next year. We need a car that can perform on various circuits, which Mercedes have been good at producing. That's where we need to be strong next year, escpially with a 23 race calendar. Particularly on a circuit like this, to take that performance into winter is very encourgaging," Horner concluded.

This article was written and originally published by Tim on the Dutch edition of GPblog.com.