Red Bull and the cost cap saga have been bittersweet while leaning more toward the bitter side. The champions were blasted with a $7 million fine, and reduced wind tunnel time for a “minor” breach of the limit for what they claim was lost on catering, Horner admits that it tarnished them.
The sweet side of it all? Red Bull is as dominant as ever. It is almost as if nothing happened. While the effects of the wind tunnel constraints might kick in later, for now, the team is comfortable. Out of the eye of the tornado, Christian Horner looks back at the toxicity of it all, and how his rivals were ready to kick the downtrodden team at their lowest.
Red Bull boss opens up on cutthroat rivals
In a recent interview with iNews, Horner admitted that despite the stony facade, the controversy got to the team. “It tainted us.” Horner also explained that these moments of weakness left the team vulnerable to their hungry rivals.
And it did. Narrating how rival teams exploited their troubles, Horner backed his statements. “These things get used by your rivals. We had one of them contacting our sponsors and partners making suggestions that we would be bringing their brands into disrepute. That was just underhand.”
In these troubling times, Horner could only turn to his wife’s sound advice; one that taught him to keep his eye on his friends in the paddock. “My wife has always said to me a pat on the back is only six inches from a kick up the arse.”
Sage advice from Ginger Spice. However, this is but an example of the dog-eat-dog spirit of the F1 paddock. No one is safe, and there are no friends.
The fastest duo on the grid
Red Bull surely has a bigger target on their backs this time around as their cars have left the grid stunned. Despite the heavy penalty, the genius of Adrian Newey rescued Milton Keynes. The car even left the Mercedes team with its jaws on the floor.
Lewis Hamilton went on the record to say that the RB18 is the fastest car he’s seen. “I have definitely never seen a car so fast. When we were fast, we were not that fast.” The champion even admitted that he couldn’t bother fighting Max Verstappen when he showed up in his mirrors- a feeling shared by most drivers on the grid.
George Russell also conceded, “you’ve got to give credit to what Red Bull have done. The gap they have to the rest of the field, I think is bigger than we’ve seen probably since Mercedes in 2014.”
Unmatched, unfazed, Red Bull clearly kept their heads down and powered through the tomatoes being thrown at them. Being the championship favorites two races into the season, the Bulls have it locked in on the championship trophies
