“I think it is already surprising how much performance these cars have got”- Christian Horner surprised by the performance of the new F1 cars

Red Bull boss Christian Horner was surprised by how the teams have been able to extract from their new 2022 F1 cars.

Looking at the performance of all the ten teams on the track, Red Bull boss Christian Horner was surprised to see how much the teams have been able to extract from the cars given the biggest technical overhauls.

Ferrari, Mercedes and Red Bull completed more laps than an average race distance. But it was only Charles Leclerc who held the first position in the timesheets with the fastest time.

All the usual caveats for F1 testing… The laptimes don’t matter, the cars won’t look the same when we go to Bahrain, don’t know engine modes or fuel weights…

However, the two car designs that have made everyone immediately go WOW are the Merc and Red Bull! #F1Testing #F12022

— Karun Chandhok (@karunchandhok) February 23, 2022

Leclerc’s fastest time was 1:20.165, a measure seemingly faster than Horner had expected to see so soon. The 2022 machines are predicted to be slower than 2021. however, they are still proving to be fast through the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya’s high-speed corners.

Also Read: F1 Twitter left stunned with Red Bull and their side-pod design for the 2022 car

Christian Horner thinks it was an encouraging morning

Red Bull’s Max Verstappen’s best time in Barcelona on the first of the testing session was 1:22.246. However, only a little conclusion can be drawn from such early efforts as the team is running varied testing programmes.

Horner said, “I think it is already surprising how much performance these cars have got.”

“They are certainly not going to be lacking in the high-speed corners. It’s been an encouraging morning getting to know our RB18.

“It’s always interesting to see the cars for the first time after what is such a big regulation change. In what are pretty prescriptive regulations, to have such a variance, it’s fascinating to see how the teams are interpreting these rules.

“Of course, there will be convergence over a period of time, but we certainly have some very varied themes between the teams. It is going to be pretty fascinating to see how it plays out.”

He added: “I am sure they will all look very different by the time we get to [the final race of the season in] Abu Dhabi.”

Also Read: Charles Leclerc secured the top spot throughout the first morning of F1 testing in Barcelona