Competition closer to Red Bull? 'We were already working on the RB20'

F1 News

christian horner on red bull rb20 development
28 October 2023 at 06:00

At the fall of the finishing flag, the margin was minuscule. At least on track, Lewis Hamilton managed to keep up well with Max Verstappen a week ago in America. The competition was also breathing down Verstappen's neck during the two free practice sessions of the Mexican Grand Prix. It seems like the other teams are getting closer to Red Bull Racing. Yet team boss Christian Horner is not really worried.

A few minutes before the second free practice started, Horner addressed the suggestion in a packed press room that it seems to be getting more and more exciting at the head of the field. "Well, it keeps moving around. I mean, Alex Albon stepped up this morning and he looked very racy. So, it keeps moving around behind us."

Red Bull opted for fewer updates

Strange the Brit certainly doesn't think so: "And of course, you have to remember that since the summer break, we've really added very little performance, if anything, to the car. With the wind tunnel restrictions that we've had, we've elected to use that on RB20, next year's cars, as opposed to continuing the development on RB19. And that's not to say whatever we do now, we don't learn and apply for next year."

While relatively halting the continued development of the RB19, the Austrians still managed to keep winning. However, Mercedes, McLaren and Ferrari have moved closer to Red Bull. "We've managed to be consistent at a whole variance of circuits. And it was great to get the win last weekend. It was great to win the sprint race in what has just been a truly remarkable season for us," Horner said.