General
Why Horner feared the worst for Red Bull Racing ahead of qualifying
For Red Bull, who have dominated the start of the 2024 season, the pace shown at the Australian Grand Prix had been lacking. Neither RB20 could take P1 in any of the free practice sessions, and there was a lot of talk as to whether they'd be able to take P1 in today's qualifying session. But, when it mattered, Max Verstappen found the pace and took pole position.
Horner very happy after a lacklustre Friday
One person who thought that Red Bull might be beaten out by rivals Ferrari during qualifying was team principal Christian Horner, who was pleasantly surprised to see his team take P1 and P3, with Sergio Perez taking third place.
"Do you know what? I really thought Ferrari had the upper hand on us today," stated Horner when speaking to Viaplay. "That's certainly the first time that we've actually managed to nail Sector 3. All through qualifying, and yesterday and today too, we've been giving away a tenth or a tenth-and-a-half in Sector 3, and we finally managed to get the balance right.
"Max did two great laps there, both of which were good enough for the pole. Checo delivered a great lap as well to put himself third on the grid. So, first and third is really good for tomorrow."
As Horner said, Red Bull had not found the pace they usually set throughout a race weekend, but they made the necessary changes to be the fastest team when it mattered. "I think we tried the full range of front wing adjustment through that session," concluded the Red Bull boss. "Max just kept going up and up and up on the front wing, and it was quite windy, as well as getting cooler towards the end of quali. He got it together, got it worked out, and a great two laps that got the pole."