As Red Bull’s Max Verstappen won the Imola GP, the Milton-Keynes-based team stands as the first team in years to confront the dominance of the Mercedes F1. However, according to team chief Christian Horner, it is too early to call them ‘favorites’ for the F1 title.
“I just don’t believe we are the favourites, to be honest with you. We’re up against a seven times consecutive world champion. You don’t have to be a rocket scientist to work out the odds: they will tell you who the favourite is.” Horner said.
Horner further pointed towards Mercedes’ tactics of pressurizing Red Bull with the favorite tag. As indicated by him, the Brackley-based team is simply trying to claim the psychological victory here.
“They are trying to put expectation on us while creating the unnecessary pressure. Of course, Toto will inevitably try to identify Red Bull as the favourite in order to create a perception of having to chase and catch up”, Horner said.
“Mercedes has been tagging us as the favourite, and Toto is obviously extremely keen to deflect attention: but it’s somewhat short sighted.”, Horner added.
“When you look, they are seven time reigning world champions, they had one bad test. Their car was every bit quick as ours in the race in in Bahrain, and their tyre degradations looks very good” He concluded.
Horner is a bit embarrassed by all the statements made by Mercedes’ boss Toto Wolff over Red bull’s evolution this season. According to him, the British team is simply trying to play with the odds before the Portuguese Grand Prix.
Horner affirms that everyone needs to wait for three or four races to get the clear picture
Credits: Getty Images
Mercedes team principal, Toto Wolff, has earlier talked about Red Bull’s advantage over the British team in terms of a faster car. Horner, on the other hand, insisted that the season has just got started and one must wait for three to four races to get a clearer picture.
“I’ve always said it’s going to take probably three or four races to get a true reflection of form, and I still believe that’s the case,” he said. “By the time we get to the end of Barcelona I think you’re going to have a much clearer picture.”
With the Portuguese Grand Prix flagging off on May 2nd, it would be interesting to see how things stack up for both teams by the end of the event.
