Horner: “I am confident that Ferrari will respond in Miami”

After the magnificent double of his Red Bulls at Imola, Christian Horner was over the moon. The boss of the Austrian team can be satisfied to have seen his team make up some of their (considerable) deficit to Ferrari in the standings. After a Grand Prix in Australia where the Scuderia was clearly superior, Red Bull managed to turn the tables and dominate the weekend from start to finish. Moreover, the RB18s seemed to have found what was missing for them since the beginning of the season: reliability.

« It’s a fabulous reaction to our difficulties in Australia, the entire team in England and Japan has worked exceptionally. We did the best we could,” rejoiced Christian Horner in an interview with Speedweek.com. « The retirements in Bahrain and Australia were painful for Max, but I’ve always said that this season is very long and we could make up for it. We can draw a lot of confidence from how this weekend unfolded here.”

Thanks to this double win, the first one for Red Bull since Malaysia in 2016, the Austrian team is now only 11 points behind Ferrari in the constructors’ standings. In the driver’s championship, Max Verstappen scored 34 points, a record for a single weekend, and is getting closer to Leclerc (27 points ahead for the Monegasque). Christian Horner is pleased with the results in terms of points, but is wary of Ferrari, expecting a quick response on the track.

It was important to close the gap with Ferrari. But for every pot, you need the right lid. Ferrari has a superb car and two very good drivers, everything must be perfect for us to beat them. They were unlucky in Imola. I am convinced that they will strike back as soon as Miami. It will be a matter of details, and it can end one way or another between us and Ferrari from one race to another, explains the Brit.

According to Horner, the management of the tires played a very important role in the outcome of the race. Charles Leclerc, who was leading for a large part of the sprint race, was unable to maintain his tires towards the end and finished with worn-out tires, being overtaken by Verstappen.

(A) A very important topic is that of tires. In Imola, we managed to get them in the optimal working window, but in Australia, we struggled. In Italy, Leclerc had more difficulties with the tires than us. And that tipped the balance in our favor, both in sprints and in the Grand Prix, », Christian Horner said.