Christian Horner speaks on why Red Bull looked a bit off than Ferrari in F1 Australian GP, which reminded them of Las Vegas GP.
Red Bull were certainly caught out in F1 Australian GP by Ferrari from Friday onward. Max Verstappen did manage to pull out a pole lap but overall he never looked settled, likewise Sergio Perez. The team did work on improvements but never found them out.
Verstappen retired early, while Perez looked good until finding tear-off in his brakes. Ferrari, meanwhile, not only had race pace but also tyre management sorted. Carlos Sainz especially looked solid, and Charles Leclerc too managed to climb back up.
Red Bull boss Horner reckoned the circuit’s characteristics and tarmac caught them out and it was like Las Vegas last year where Ferrari did well. “I think it’s a very front limited circuit here,” he said. “I think the nature of the surface as well. I think that the tyre graining here in particular was something that Ferrari looked in control of.
“Certainly from Friday their long runs looked good. I think we did a good job to understand the issues with our car. It’s just a shame we only got a full lap sample. I think that we managed to work out where some of the issues were in quali. And I think that, as I say, it’s a shame we didn’t get to see how did that look.
“Carlos’ pace in particular, that middle stint, was pretty impressive. And of course when you see an advantage like that, that’s all about keeping the tyre in very good condition.
In the last race you looked a bit vulnerable. One road was Las Vegas where also we had a graining issue. I think it’s an area that Ferrari is particularly strong.
“So it’s probably no coincidence that they were strong in Vegas and they’ve been strong here. So it’s certainly an area I think that we’ll need to improve on, on front limited circuits,” summed Horner. In fact, Perez too concurred about their struggles and Ferrari’s gains on circuit like Albert Park.
“I think it’s probably tarmac-related,” said Perez. “If you remember Vegas, we were already struggling last year. So I think there’s something in it that. We just have to make sure we work hard to try and understand what the issues are. I think we just didn’t have the pace as a team. If you see Max was overtaken within two laps. That already shows something.”
For Ferrari, Frederic Vasseur didn’t dwell much on the team’s good showing on such type of circuit but he is happy that they are in a good shape with tyre management. “Coincidence, I don’t know [if it’s a coincidence],” he said. “But it’s true that we are probably in a good shape in this situation.
“But on the tyre management, we were able to do the fastest lap on the last lap in Jeddah, and it shows also that we are going in the right direction on the management of stints. But it’s… Yeah, but don’t draw any conclusion so quickly.”
Here’s Sergio Perez being unaware of tear-off stuck
Here’s Max Verstappen, Christian Horner on race-ending streak
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