Dark
Light
Dark
Light
Red Bull Settles for Second as McLaren Dominates

Horner Admits: ‘Gap Too Large’ to Catch McLaren

23/09/2024

Christian Horner concedes that McLaren F1 and Lando Norris were simply unbeatable at the Singapore Grand Prix, highlighting a significant performance gap.

Christian Horner could only acknowledge the superiority of McLaren F1 and Lando Norris at the Singapore Grand Prix. The Red Bull director admitted that the first stint was crucial in determining the outcome, despite some close calls for Norris throughout the race.

“First of all, congratulations to McLaren and Lando, they clearly had the best car on track, they were in a different category. The gap to Lando was significant in the first part of the race, and with the hard tires, we looked in better shape, but the gap was too large and on this track it’s historically very difficult to overtake,” stated Horner.

“It could have swung our way, Lando hit the wall once, then he hit it a second time. Obviously, he managed well! But we led the rest of the pack so we regained some performance.”

“Max had a good race and we finished 2nd. As a team, we wanted to avoid a repeat of last year in Singapore, and the efforts put into preparing this race allowed us to give the drivers a better car and more confidence in the direction of development. The whole team worked very hard this weekend.”

“We started from behind, made some changes and Max extracted all the performance from the car for a very good race. Checo had a good start, made some good early laps, but he lost traction. You need to be quick to overtake and he lost time behind Hülkenberg. He managed to finish 10th.”

Horner praises Ricciardo’s scoring point

Horner explains that the entire Red Bull team will mobilize to defend the drivers’ championship: “McLaren is the benchmark car at the moment, and we have some catching up to do.”

“We are still fully in the war for the championships, but we have the people, the capabilities, and the determination to do it. We are still in the fight and now have a few weeks to work on things before heading out again.”

“Considering where we were a few weeks ago, progress is visible, and we have the coming weeks to focus and advance before heading to Austin. There will be many sleepless nights in Milton Keynes.”

Daniel Ricciardo was moved to tears after finishing, his last race seemingly in sight, but Horner still claims no decision has been made: “There’s a natural break now with a month between the two races, of course, we will evaluate all scenarios.”

“Daniel is capable of a lot, we know this and he showed it in that last lap. What he did was good for us because it takes a point from Lando. We’ll see how things evolve over the coming month and what decision we’ll make.”

Red Bull Settles for Second as McLaren Dominates

Red Bull Settles for Second as McLaren Dominates Red Bull Settles for Second as McLaren Dominates

Go toTop