“We’re totally focused on Sunday” : Race pace is a priority for Red Bull

“We’re totally focused on Sunday” : Race pace is a priority for Red Bull

Christian Horner

Having lost to Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc in qualifying, Christian Horner is resolute that Red Bull will be able to be competitive for the triumph at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix. Sergio Perez and Max Verstappen of Red Bull successfully completed the hour in second and third place, three tenths of a second slower than Leclerc.

Talking after the qualifying session, Horner contended that Red Bull concentrating more on race setup could contribute in them daunting for the win in Baku. “We’re totally focused on Sunday, but I think there is always a trade-off that you’re going to make between outright one-lap pace,” said Horner.

“I think Ferrari have had that in the last few races but I think our race pace has tended to be pretty good. Checo’s on that Monaco wave of confidence and even without a tow he did a good lap there, and Max is right up there as well. I still think we can race well from that,” added the Red Bull team principal.

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Christian Horner is aware of the fluctuating variables in Baku for Red Bull

Max Verstappen(on the left), Sergio Perez(in the middle) and Christian Horner(on the right)
Max Verstappen(on the left), Sergio Perez(in the middle) and Christian Horner(on the right)

But besides his uplifting message on Red Bull’s lap times, Horner appended that the effectiveness will be meaningless if they are unable to overcome the potential challenges of the Baku City Circuit. Historically, the rapidly-paced Azerbaijan Grand Prix has resulted in numerous incidents, Safety Cars, and red flags, resulting in unforeseen finalists.

These unknown variables, according to Horner, presume that the team will have to take the best strategy decisions along with the enhanced race pace  to come out on top. “I think Safety Cars are going to be a big factor here,” added Horner.

“We’ve seen in the support races and we’ve seen plenty of action in qualifying there, so I think that’s going to play a role. We just want to make sure we get the strategy right. I think rear tyres are going to be crucial here as well. Nobody has really done any long runs, so it’s a bit of a journey into the unknown, but hopefully we’ve focused on having a good race car and hopefully we’ll deliver that tomorrow,” concluded the team boss of Red Bull.

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