Christian Horner details how McLaren F1’s car versatility gives them the upper hand over Red Bull.
Christian Horner believes the reason McLaren F1 now dominates the Formula 1 grid is the versatility of their MCL38. This is, at any rate, the advantage he describes for McLaren over the team he manages, Red Bull.
“I think their car is in a better window than ours at the moment, it’s maybe easier or broader,” Horner estimated. “Our window seems to be very narrow, and that’s what makes things difficult for the engineers and drivers.”
“I think we need to consider the car’s balance and widen this window, as it’s very important for temperature and all relevant factors. And I think that’s something the team is very aware of and working very hard on.”
He admits that the English team is becoming a threat, with only a 51-point deficit: “McLaren obviously has a lot of pace right now, they scored heavily today, and we need to start scoring heavily from next weekend.”
“Translating problems into solutions”
Red Bull debuted a brand-new upgrade package in Hungary, and Horner is convinced that it can help Red Bull regain versatility: “I think we have more performance to bring, so as I said, I think we need to broaden the operational window of the car.”
“When the car is in the right window, it qualifies on pole by four-tenths in Austria, and here we missed pole by less than a tenth. But you can see when you listen to the driver, particularly Max, that he has limits in the car and he knows where the performance is.”
“The trick is to translate these problems into solutions, on the engineering and aerodynamics front. I think everyone is focused on the race, we have a tight fight in the championship, you can see that.”
“I think everyone on the team is focused on ensuring that all energy is devoted to optimizing our performance as a team, developing the car, and making the most of race weekends.”
Andrea Stella, McLaren’s director, believes his team’s car is now highly competitive. But with a 51-point deficit in the constructors’ standings and even more among the drivers, McLaren will need more: “We brought no improvements to Hungary.”
“If you look at the cornering speeds, they match where our car generates significant downforce. We know we want to stay in the title fight and to catch up to Red Bull, we need to further improve the car. That’s what we keep repeating internally.”
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McLaren’s Edge Over Red Bull: It’s All About Flexibility McLaren’s Edge Over Red Bull: It’s All About Flexibility
