2 Years After Intense Rivalry With Mercedes, Red Bull Boss Reveals He ‘Sleeps Well’ With Over 200 Points Lead

The 2021 F1 season was a season like no other. It saw an intense rivalry between Mercedes and Red Bull and an equally intense war of words between Christian Horner and Toto Wolff. But two years since the closely contested season, Red Bull now stands as the most dominant force in F1. Enjoying a lead of more than 200 points over their Brackley-based opponents, the Red Bull boss now enjoys his sleep.

Two seasons ago, though, both team bosses would have had a lot of sleepless nights, given how close the competition was. While Mercedes won the constructor’s championship, Red Bull won the driver’s championship, but not without controversy. It all went down to the last lap of the season’s last race to determine who would become the world champion.

But Mercedes has since lost their edge over their competition owing mainly to the latest norms put in place by the FIA. Mercedes may be second in the standings of the constructor’s championship, but they are well over 200 points behind first-placed Red Bull, which happens to be Horner’s favorite lullaby of late.

Christian Horner sleeps well knowing his team is well above everyone else in F1

While in conversation with an ESPN panel, Red Bull chief Christian Horner talked about how things have changed from the 2021 season. He referred to his team as the ‘David’ that faced Mercedes’ ‘Goliath’ two seasons ago. But having become the hunted instead of the hunter, Horner’s life has taken a surprising turn.

“I sleep better at the moment than I did in 2021. I’d rather have 250 points in the pocket than, you know, two [years ago].”

The 2021 season saw both teams fight till the very end of the season. Verstappen won the driver’s championship by a margin of 8 points, while Mercedes grabbed the constructor’s title by 28 points. In comparison, the 2023 season has seen Red Bull almost decimate their opponents, as they have already taken a 256-point lead over the Silver Arrows.

The 2022 season led to the start of Red Bull’s dominion in the sport

The changes brought to F1 by the FIA at the start of the 2022 season meant there would be a significant reshuffling of the leaderboard. New aero regulations were put in place that proved to be a blessing for Red Bull’s engineers.

As Red Bull battled, cutting down their weight to meet the limits, other teams battled porpoising. The bouncing phenomenon, caused mainly by the latest aero-regulations, meant Mercedes had to figure out how to fix it through the entire season.

And in 2023, Red Bull has only grown stronger. Having won all the races so far, it looks highly unlikely any team can catch up to them this season. The Milton Keynes outfit looks set to pick up the constructor’s championship while taking home the top 2 spots of the driver’s championship.