Christian Horner has firmly rejected James Allison’s assertion that Red Bull’s latest upgrade for the RB20 was a ‘downgrade,’ affirming that every modification made this season has been justified.
Despite a dominant start to the season with Red Bull winning four of the first five races, whispers from the paddock suggested that the latest upgrades to the RB20 were a step backwards. McLaren and Ferrari had recently upgraded their cars, leading to Red Bull’s competitors closing the gap. Mercedes’ Technical Director James Allison went so far as to claim that Red Bull’s recent upgrades were actually downgrades.
After McLaren’s major upgrades in Miami and similar upgrades from other teams in subsequent races, Red Bull won just one of the next three races. Lando Norris secured first place in Miami, Max Verstappen barely won in Imola, and Charles Leclerc took the top spot in Monaco. This led Allison to comment, ‘I guess as soon as there’s a decent range of cornering speeds, they’ll be useful again, but it does look as if their upgrade was a downgrade. Fingers crossed that would really mess them up.’
Red Bull’s motorsport advisor Helmut Marko also mentioned correlation issues, noting that the team struggled particularly with the kerbs and bumps on the Monaco circuit. However, Horner dismissed these claims while speaking to Sky F1 in Montreal, saying, ‘No, absolutely not. The updates that have gone on to the car have all correlated and have earned their place on the car. There are quite often rumours that percolate.’
Horner pointed out that many teams have cars resembling Red Bull’s design and view this as healthy competition. ‘We’ve got to be at the top of our game, to keep ahead and so everybody in the team… what we achieved last year was unnatural, it was always going to converge, it was always going to become more competitive,’ he remarked. The Red Bull boss emphasized that the team is fully aware of the increasing competition and is working hard to maintain their lead.
Discussing other teams’ performances, Horner highlighted that while Mercedes looked quick on green circuits and newly resurfaced tracks, Red Bull is more focused on Ferrari and McLaren over the season. ‘We’re still learning about the car obviously… Ferrari and McLaren they’ve all made progress and Mercedes as well are looking quick here this weekend,’ he said.
Addressing the issue of Red Bull’s car handling on kerbs, Horner acknowledged the struggles but noted ongoing efforts to address them. ‘It’s something that there’s a lot of projects going on back in the factory back in the UK, but we know that there’s performance there that will be unlocked if we can get on top of that kerb riding. If you look at the circuits where we’ve been very strong this year, they’ve all been pretty smooth without big kerbs and I think Monaco was a bit of a wake-up call,’ he conceded.
Despite the paddock chatter and challenges on certain tracks, Horner remains confident in Red Bull’s direction and upgrades. The team continues to work diligently to stay ahead as the competition tightens in the 2024 season.
