Red Bull have emerged as the dominant side in 2023 as they have won all 12 races so far. With his side not having put a foot wrong, team principal Christian Horner has opened up on how relaxed he is this season as compared to some of the previous years when they had their rivals fighting them for the title. Horner made a reference to the 2021 season in particular when Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton challenged Max Verstappen until the very end for the championship. 2 years later that season, Red Bull seems unstoppable.
This season seems in complete contrast to the 2021 campaign. Moreover, it has been completely straightforward as no team has come even close to beating Red Bull despite the upgrades bringing some upgrades to their car.
A perfect weekend in Spa 🇧🇪 We’ve been on it from start to finish @redbullracing 💪 The car was great 🚀
Thank you Orange Army, your support has been unreal 🙌 #BelgianGP pic.twitter.com/05mFAL5FWG
— Max Verstappen (@Max33Verstappen) July 30, 2023
Moreover, even in 2022, Red Bull was not able to showcase such dominance as Ferrari grabbed a few wins in the early part of the season. The Milton Keynes outfit have been so dominant this year, that some fans have criticized them for making F1 “boring“. However, it seems Horner is not concerned about the spectacle as long as his side is winning.
Christian Horner is in no mood of wanting a closer title fight
In a recent interview, Christian Horner opened up on Red Bull’s staggering success this season and whether he would like to see a closer title fight. In reply, the Briton said (as quoted by motorsport.com), “There’s not one ounce of me that wishes that. I think I’m still in recovery from 2021“.
After stating the same, the 49-year-old added that he is still in disbelief over the kind of domination his side has showcased this season. Horner said that he had thought that the likes of Ferrari and Mercedes would have been closer this season instead of falling further behind.
However, since Red Bull have been unbeaten so far, the interviewers also asked Horner if he believes that his side can continue this run until the end of the season. In reply, the Red Bull team principal explained how he had never thought that they would win the first 12 races and that he is hopeful that they can carry on.
While Horner seems much calmer this season till now, the same cannot be said for the 2021 season. This is because in a very recent interview on ESPN’s Unlapped show, the 49-year-old explained how the 2021 campaign “aged” him.
Horner made his point clear by dramatically explaining how he “didn’t have a single grey hair before 2021“. However, just two years after, it seems that Horner is effortlessly able to guide his side to the championship.
Can any team stop Red Bull this season?
The F1 2023 season has reached its halfway point and the question still remains the same: Can any team stop Red Bull? Over the course of the campaign so far, several teams have come close at various points but no team has been able to snatch the top spot yet.
In the first few races, it was Aston Martin and Fernando Alonso that came close to beating Red Bull. Soon after, the likes of Mercedes and Ferrari joined the fight.
However, just before the summer break, it seems that the Milton Keynes outfit had a new challenger in the form of McLaren. The Woking-based outfit has been the most impressive among all of Red Bull’s rivals so far as they have showcased tremendous improvement from the start of the season.
At the start of this year, McLaren were fighting just to score some points and now it seems that they are consistently fighting for the podiums. Hence, considering how much they have improved recently, it seems that they could be the side that perhaps could challenge Red Bull for the wins in the second half of the season.
