Horner: We knew the run would come to an end

Jad Mallak 3 min read

Horner: We knew the run would come to an end

Christian Horner was philosophical after Red Bull’s nightmare of a  Singapore Grand Prix, claiming they knew their winning streak will come to an end at some point.

Red Bull were a shadow of their dominant selves under the floodlights of the Marina Bay Circuit for the first time in the 2023 Formula 1 season, unable to switch their RB19 on, both Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez struggling from the moment they hit the track for Friday’s practice sessions.

Matters did not improve as the weekend progressed, with Verstappen knocked out of qualifying in Q2, Perez suffering the same fate, and come race day, the Dutchman managed fifth place, the Mexican only eighth, even the Safety Car playing against them.

In Red Bull‘s post race report, Horner said: “Firstly, congratulations to Ferrari. Carlos drove a great race and managed to hold on for the win.

“It certainly has been an exciting race today, but for us, we were very unlucky. The safety car could not have come at a worse time and that killed any chance for us to get into contention. It was a shame, but there are also a lot of positives.

“Max’s pace at the end and then with Checo coming back through also made for a very strong performance,” Horner went on. “We knew that the run would come to an end at some point and we reflect on the job well done by the Team. 15 wins in a row is an incredible feat. 10 wins for Max is something that is equally remarkable.

“We carry a lot of momentum heading into Japan and look forward to getting out and going again,” the Red Bull boss maintained.

To be fair, Red Bull have always insisted Singapore would not be a good weekend for them, but their utter dominance in 2023 made many think they are just bluffing.

Just engineering stuff… Not the FIA technical directive

As it turned out, the Milton Keynes squad suffered, with many pointing at the FIA technical directive – issued over the Singapore weekend, to clamp down on flexible bodywork – as the reason behind the reigning Champions’ struggles.

“It’s all engineering stuff. There’s no silver bullets in this business,” Horner responded when the media asked about his squad’s miserable Singapore Grand Prix.

“I know all of you would love to blame the TD, but unfortunately we can’t even blame that, because it’s not changed a single component on our car,” he pointed out.

The Briton insisted nothing changed in the way Red Bull operated their F1 car components, and explained: “We knew coming here it would be expected to have closer competition. But I think it took us a bit by surprise, just how far out we were on Friday.

“I think that we were just not in the right operating window for the car, particularly over a single lap. And when you’re not there, then the tyres feel horrible. Everything just doesn’t work.

“I think that maybe our simulation before the weekend didn’t lead us to the right conclusion. Then you have to sort of unravel your way out of that.

“I think we just ended up in the wrong window and it exposed some of our weaknesses that the car has. But it has actually been a very useful lesson for next year, because it gives us some very useful insight and certain things that hopefully we can address in our RB20,” Horner concluded.

At least we do not have to wait too long to find out whether Horner’s claims regarding the reasons of Red Bull’s Singapore slump are true, as the Japanese Grand Prix is taking place this weekend at Suzuka, a track with a conventional layout and characteristics.

The RB19 we have got to know over the course of the 2023 F1 season should be formidable around Suzuka where all will be revealed.