After Red Bull lost their stunning winning streak in the recently concluded Singapore Grand Prix, Christian Horner took a slight dig at Mercedes and Lewis Hamilton by praising Carlos Sainz for the win. The Ferrari driver had a perfect Saturday and Sunday to take home the win while defending against the Silver Arrows with everything. Citing this, the Red Bull boss said as per Diario AS, that he is glad that it was Sainz who broke their winning streak, as reported by RBR Daily on X.
The Singapore GP saw Ferrari take their first win of the season. This was also the first non-Red Bull team to win a Grand Prix in 2023. McLaren’s Lando Norris was close behind, taking P2. Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton took the P3 while George Russell crashed right at the end.
Seeing a huge winning streak getting broken is not fun for any team principal. Nevertheless, Horner was content in himself that he lost the streak to Ferrari and Carlos Sainz, instead of it being to arch rivals Wolff, Hamilton and Mercedes.
Christian Horner praised Carlos Sainz while taking a dig at Mercedes
As Sainz won the race while Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez couldn’t do much with their P5 and P8 finish, it was indeed a disheartening moment for the Red Bull fraternity.
As the one-off weekend has finally come where the Milton-Keynes-based team had to see defeat, Christian Horner came out to praise Sainz instead of sulking. He said as per Diario AS, “Congratulations, it was an impressive performance.”
Following this, he then took the subtle dig, “If anyone had to beat us, I’m glad it was you.” However, Red Bull aims to make a comeback and go back to winning ways in the upcoming race at Suzuka.
Can Red Bull make a comeback?
Red Bull and Max Verstappen are hugely hopeful to go back to their usual dominance in the upcoming race at the Japanese Grand Prix. Given, the Suzuka track is very much different from that of Marina Bay Circuit, they have faith that they will get back to the top.
This is mainly because the RB-19 is incredibly good when it comes to tire wear, compared to it’s rivals. Furthermore, this is an open circuit where the RB-19 cars thrive and go back to their usual best.
On the other hand, no matter how fast Ferrari’s SF-23 is, they are tier eaters. Apart from that, the Ferrari challengers are yet to match their Red Bull counterparts when it comes to pure pace, straight line speed, and mammoth DRS.
