“There could be other twists and turns in this”: Red Bull boss Christian Horner believes reliability issues may play deciding factor in title bids for both Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton

Red Bull principal Christian Horner is fearful of reliability issues that may pop up in the season. The team boss is cautious as there is “no such thing as total stability.”

Max Verstappen took his fourth engine and the resulting penalty at the Russian GP in September. His championship rival Lewis Hamilton took only a 10-spot grid penalty after changing just the Internal Combustion Engine in Turkey.

The difference in penalties for the two drivers was 10 spots as Verstappen took a complete Power Unit change. Commenting on the unpredictable nature of any given F1 season.  Horner said: “You can do all the sims and modelling you like and then something variable happens.”

“There is no such thing as total stability like you have in a simulated world to the end of the year. There could be other twists and turns in this, let’s wait and see.”

While Mercedes have shown great confidence in their strategies, simultaneous engine penalties for Valterri Bottas have made Team Principal consider there may be a problem in the entire batch of engines. 

Also read: “Lewis looked probably the quickest he’s looked all year here”– Red Bull fears Lewis Hamilton’s pace in Turkey 

Reliability risks for Mercedes may turn into a dampener for the title bid

The reliability issues Mercedes are facing may seriously affect the challenge they want to put against Red Bull. While it does give them additional speed, it also runs the risk of causing greater damage to the ICE and its surrounding parts.

The chances are that even Hamilton may have to incur another grid penalty if reliability continues to act up for the Silver Arrows.

Also read: Engine woes for Mercedes see no end, could play a deciding factor in the bid for the championship

Talking about the difference in the actions taken on the engines to trigger penalties and their consequent results, Horner pointed out: “We have taken a penalty, gotten into a good position, we have taken the additional parts as well, the battery, the MGU-K, the [MGU]H.” 

“Lewis has just taken the ICE, the combustion which is less of a penalty but is still going to put a lot of stress on those other components to the end of the year.”, concluded the Milton-Keynes-based team’s Team Principal.

Six points separate Verstappen and Hamilton in the Driver’s championship standings in the Dutchman’s favour. Formula One will race this week in Austin, Texas, at the Circuit Of The Americas.