Christian Horner said he believes Red Bull are operating at their highest level ever after Max Verstappen maintained his unbeaten run this season with a dominant win at the Austrian Grand Prix.
Horner expressed his confidence in the team for their chances of securing another victory at the British Grand Prix this weekend and that they will continue to work to achieve an unbeaten team’s first Formula 1 season.
Verstappen won at the Red Bull Ring with another dominating performance. Even when pit stops dropped him behind the two Ferraris of Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz, he quickly passed them to reclaim the lead and victory. Before a late stop for fresh tires to take the fastest lap, he had a 21-second advantage over the peloton.
The world champion now has seven victories in nine races with his teammate Sergio Pérez victorious in the other two. Their car was armored. With four consecutive Drivers’ and Constructors’ titles with Sebastian Vettel between 2010 and 2013, they are no strangers to success, but this season Horner believes they are better than ever.
“I think we are operating at the highest level this team has seen in their 19 year history, this is a dream time for the team,” said the Red Bull team principal. “Of course we will go to Silverstone with confidence but also fully aware that it is very easy to drop the ball and for variables that are sometimes beyond your control. What was impressive in Austria is that in all the conditions, we stayed on top of them and ran a very good Grand Prix.
When asked if the team could hold on to their advantage to close out a clean sweep, Horner insisted the team would continue to chase the goal and highlighted the effort that had gone into their dominance.
“It’s our best series of results in a season since Sebastian Vettel in 2013, we have won nine consecutive races in one season,” he said. “Obviously we want to keep that roll as long as possible, but how long? Only time will tell.
“It depends on each department, to get results like this, it’s not just about the racing team, but all the activity that goes on behind the scenes in the factory. You have to work as a team as one team. That’s where we were incredibly strong.
Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff acknowledged after the race that Verstappen’s performance had placed the 25-year-old with two world championships under his belt as a candidate to enter the same class as top drivers. of modern F1.
“It’s clearly one of the phases of history where one car with one driver is very dominant,” he said. “We had that with Lewis [Hamilton] and with Sebastian in the Red Bull and before with Michael [Schumacher] in the Ferrari.
Verstappen leads teammate Pérez by 81 points heading into the British Grand Prix and is already on track to claim his third world championship. However, Mercedes are bringing a series of upgrades to Silverstone and are optimistic that Lewis Hamilton and George Russell will benefit from improved performance at their home grand prix.