Christian Horner was left to rue a “very irritating” sequence of occasions in Sunday’s Austrian Grand Prix after Crimson Bull left their dwelling race with out scoring any factors.
Max Verstappen accomplished solely two corners on the Crimson Bull Ring earlier than being taken out of the motion by Mercedes rival Kimi Antonelli, who misjudged his method to Flip 3 and subsequently earned a three-place grid penalty for Silverstone.
Yuki Tsunoda, in the meantime, was the ultimate finisher in sixteenth place, having struggled to make an impression after his Q1 exit and been given a 10-second penalty for tipping Franco Colapinto’s Alpine right into a spin exiting Flip 4.
The end result means Red Bull fall even additional behind their rivals in the Teams’ Championship, holding 162 factors to McLaren’s 417, whereas Verstappen is 61 adrift of Oscar Piastri in the Drivers’ standings.
“A irritating day,” Crimson Bull crew boss Horner summed up on F1 TV’s post-race present. “Beginning with Max, he had an important begin and was well-positioned for Flip 1. At Flip 3 sadly Kimi simply misplaced management and wiped him out. Very irritating… Clearly Kimi’s apologised. It’s what it’s.
“I feel once you have a look at the tempo, we wouldn’t have fought the McLarens at the moment, however we’d have fought the Ferraris onerous, for certain. George [Russell] had no tempo. It was irritating.
“With Yuki, it’s troublesome to make progress beginning the place he did on the grid, then choosing up a penalty as properly with Colapinto. A horrible race for him at the moment as properly. Irritating, however we’ll transfer on shortly to Silverstone.”
With that in thoughts, Horner was requested how Crimson Bull can “treatment” the struggles a number of drivers have now confronted within the seat alongside Verstappen – and be certain that each automobiles are able to attain factors transferring ahead.
“We have to perceive with Yuki what’s gone mistaken [this weekend],” he continued. “FP1 and FP2, actually FP2 and FP3, he was trying okay. Qualifying it appeared to disintegrate for him.
“Once you’re out of place, you’re down the pack like that, when it’s so tight… he’s struggling, I feel he’s struggling for confidence. However we’ll work with him, we’ll try to assist him by it.
“The automobile is… it’s a automobile that’s developed over time across the growth path that we’ve taken. It isn’t a straightforward automobile to drive, but it surely’s not that troublesome both. We’ll work with him and hopefully it’ll make a step up in Silverstone.”
Given the numerous gaps which have developed in each championships, Horner is aware of Verstappen and Crimson Bull now face a tall order so as to add to their current title successes in 2025.
“Nicely, look, the championship we’re not even excited about,” he conceded. “We’re simply centered on every race now. They’re [McLaren] a good distance out of contact. We’ll simply take issues race by race.
Verstappen has received the final 4 Drivers’ titles on the bounce, whereas Crimson Bull had been topped Groups’ champions in 2022 and 2023 earlier than being overhauled by McLaren final season.
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