Horner on key element: 'We were actually worried'

Red Bull Racing surprises by taking on Mercedes this season. Whereas the German team won the world championship with relative ease in recent years, this season it is struggling to beat its rival.

Team boss Christian Horner told in conversation with Motorsport.com that success is due to several factors. "We benefited from the degree of continuity with the parts we had to bring. And the fact that the correlation was in place, that we understood where our problems were and we were able to fix them, was a key element. Certainly for the first six months of this year."

"We were actually worried that the rules would have a big impact on the high rake cars," Horner continued. "It was a combination of things: we found out about some problems, were able to fix a lot of them and made it a better package. That combined with the fact that Honda brought the engine forward a year for 2022 for their last season in Formula One. That was really a huge effort. It made everything fall together."

The Austrian formation was tens of points ahead of Mercedes prior to the race at Silverstone but saw this lead evaporate after two crashes by Max Verstappen. The gap is therefore eight points in the summer break.