“I don’t think Mercedes like our cars going round the outside at Turn 4″ : Christian Horner
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Christian Horner
Following the collision between Red Bull driver Sergio Perez and Mercedes driver George Russell at the Austrian Grand Prix, Red Bull team principal Christian Horner made light of the fact that Mercedes dislike Red Bulls overtaking at Turn 4. The Mexican attempted to pass the Briton during the opening lap of the competition but was struck and sent flying into the gravel.
He managed to get his car out of the gravel and onto a slip road, but he did so at the very backend of the grid and with a new hyole in the sidepod. Perez entered the race right away, but by lap 25, the Austria-based racing team had given up and retired the Mexican’s RB18.
The collision was eerily similar to one that occurred two years prior at the same circuit when Alex Albon appeared to be headed for his first career podium when 7-time Formula One World Champion Lewis Hamilton bumped him and sent him reeling. After the competition in 2022, team boss Horner took note of his belief that Mercedes disliked Red Bulls passing them on the outside of Turn 4.
Also Read: Austrian GP 2022: Christian Horner cautious of Ferrari’s “different approach”
“There was so much damage” : Christian Horner
“I don’t think Mercedes like our cars going round the outside at Turn 4. It was a shame because Checo, you can see he’s ahead there and it’s almost a mirror image with Alex a couple years ago. There was so much damage. There was no chance for him to score any points so better to save the mileage,” said the team principal of Red Bull Racing.
“It’s a tricky corner there but you know, we’ve seen so many incidents on the outside. It’s just a shame that he wasn’t given more space, but it’s one of those things, we’ll bounce back in France,” added Horner. Reigning Formula One World Champion Max Verstappen remained the last driver on Red Bull’s radar after Perez was eliminated, and he engaged in a duel with the two F1-75s. However, Verstappen was unable to fend off Charles Leclerc, who claimed his first victory since the third round in Australia.
Horner highlighted increased tyre degradation as the cause behind Red Bull’s pace disadvantage. “Very important points today. Ferrari, congratulations to them, they had a quicker car through the majority of the race and Max was coming back at the end there but our tyre degs were higher than halfway through the first stint and it was hard to combat that,” concluded Horner.
Also Read: Toto Wolff contends that Ferrari is “between rock and hard place” regarding giving out team orders
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Rishika Saha
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