Christian Horner reckons Red Bull has always been a two-car F1 outfit even if go back to its old days in response to Sergio Perez’s comments.
Coming into the Australian GP weekend, while acknowledging that he is finally comfortable with the car, Perez noted the fact that Red Bull felt more like a two-car effort. When he arrived at Red Bull, it wasn’t the like that or he didn’t feel it to be.
But in his third year with them, Perez is feeling part of the team as the car is to his liking as well. In fact, the Mexican recalled last year’s situation when the updates were put in which suited more to Max Verstappen’s liking than his.
“I fully believe and certainly when I came to the team, things were very different,” said Perez to media. “Basically, they were just going racing with two cars because they had to. I can say now that I really feel part of the team. I really feel like I have my place, and I am well respected. And I think that’s something good to have as a driver.
“I really believe that I have full support of the team as much as Max does, and that I will have every single opportunity to win the championship as much as Max. Certainly, I feel more comfortable in the car. I think we also learned quite a bit on which direction we took last year, not just the car itself, but also with how we set it up and how we tried to compensate for the weaknesses that it was giving me.
“We were just taking performance out of the car. Now we have got a very strong car, a very strong package, and a car that I feel comfortable with. It’s a car that I’m working well with, and a car that I also believe with the direction we take with the development, I can get the most out of it.
“I think that’s important to be able to stay in the fight throughout the season: to have a car that you can be competitive, whatever condition you are in. Certainly, last year, when we started developing the car, or basically when we put the car on a diet, basically that suited more Max and the gap just widened up.
“I believe that at the moment, we are asking for the same things. In these first races, we’ve been very, very close together on balance and asking for a similar sort of balance. So, in that regard, it’s a good thing for now,” summed up Perez, who started off well in the first two rounds but hit a bit of a roadblock in Australia and had to recover in the race.
But for Red Bull chief Horner, this was something new that he heard from his driver. He stated that Perez did struggle in the first year but was much better last year. He stressed about the past situation giving opportunities to both their drivers and eventually it depended on what the particular driver could do on the track.
“That’s the first I’ve heard him saying that,” said Horner. “We always have run two cars since we entered the sport in 2005 and we always want to have the best two drivers that we can in the car and I think it’s great to see Checo doing certainly a great job now. In ‘ 21, he came into the car off the back of the COVID season and at the end of a set of regulations, and he struggled with that car.
“Last year, he was definitely more at home within the car and he put in two of our 17 victories achieved. And he’s got out of the blocks well again this year, but we’re only two races into the season and there’s an awful long, long way to go. As a team we’ve always strived to give both drivers the best opportunity and the best equipment we can.
“And then it’s down to what they do on track and that’s whether it’s Max and Checo, or Daniel and Max or Daniel and Seb, Mark and Seb or even going back David Coulthard and Mark Weber. So that’s the way we’ve always rolled and it’s down to what they do on the circuit at the end of the day that counts,” summed up Horner.
Here’s the revised sprint format and more: https://formularapida.net/f1-approves-new-sprint-format-for-baku-shares-more-changes/
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