Christian Horner reflects positively on the first session of the Grand Prix weekend in Spain. Max Verstappen was able to keep up with the McLarens during the first free practice sessions, thus starting the race weekend well. The Red Bull team boss further states that it has been a challenging year for the Austrians so far, but he also remains optimistic: ‘We are still in the running in the drivers’ championship’.
“When we look at Spain, the last race of the triple header, we hope to see a better result and something closer to what we had in Imola“. The Dutchman immediately clocked the second fastest time during the first free practice, and drove the third fastest time, between the two McLarens, during FP2.
Team boss Christian Horner is also pleased with the progress of Friday in Barcelona, although he does not yet dare to predict that the Grand Prix weekend will be a repeat of that in Imola. “It’s too early to say that,” Horner explains. “As you may remember, it was not a good day for us on Friday in Imola either. We had a good first session (in Barcelona), and only had a few mistakes that we need to work on. The team of engineers is working hard on this. There is still a long way to go.”
Yuki Tsunoda’s Performance
Red Bull’s second driver, Yuki Tsunoda, was not able to keep up with his teammate, finishing ninth in the first practice session and thirteenth in the subsequent one. However, Horner continues to have faith in the Japanese driver. “Yuki brings a positive energy to the team, he’s sociable, he works hard, and he’s fast,” Horner continues. “He also has a good understanding of what’s happening with the car during a race, and we try to provide him with a setup that he can draw confidence from. He’s made it into Q3 a few times and has scored points. We just want him to do that more often. We see flashes of potential in him, and believe there’s more to come.”
McLaren’s Lead
The struggles of Red Bull’s second drivers, combined with the unpredictable performance of the RB21, have allowed McLaren to build a significant lead over Red Bull in the constructors’ championship. “It’s been a tough year so far, but we’re still in the game,” Horner maintains. “We’ve already won two races, and we’re only twenty-five points behind in the drivers’ championship. Anything can still happen. There are many races left on the calendar. We know we need to extract better performances from the car if we want to compete with McLaren.”
