Red Bull’s team principal, Christian Horner, is suspicious that Mercedes has not shown its full potential yet, and there is more to come.
Red Bull had a good start after Max Verstappen came out on top at the Free Practice session. Red Bull’s team principal, Christian Horner, seemed happy with the RB16B’s performance on the track.
However, he believes that Mercedes has more to offer. He is suspicious that the Brackley-based team has still got a bit in their pocket. “I don’t think we’ve seen their full potential yet,” Horner said after Friday’s track activity.
The British indicated that he has solid data to support his suspicions. He said, “during the session we have a bunch of analysts back in Milton Keynes. You can see from the GPS overlays when they turn up the engine and when they turn it down.”
“They’ll be doing the same to us. So you can monitor what they have in the pocket and what they don’t have.”
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Christian Horner found a reasonable balance
The circuit at Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez is proved to be Red Bull’s strength in the past. The RB16B’s Honda-powered engine is working better in high altitude conditions, while the rake angle makes it possible to run higher downforce settings.
Horner confirmed, “the engine’s working well at this altitude. We’re running Monaco wings, but have Monza downforce because of the thinness of the air up here. We found a reasonable balance today. It’s a track that has suited our car over the last few years.”
“But we’ve seen all year there’s been less than a tenth between the cars, and we’re expecting that to be the case [again in qualifying],” he further added.
However, Horner couldn’t hide his satisfaction over how things have gone so far. He was content with the team’s performance at Friday’s Free Practice session, despite an early setback when Sergio Perez damaged his rear wing in a spin during FP1.
“It was a solid session for us,” he said. “Both drivers are starting to find a setup to their liking. The short runs and the long runs look reasonable. [We are] focusing on ourselves, it was a reasonable day.”
