Horner: « Red Bull will have to limit the damage at Spa and Monza »

While Red Bull won the last race before the summer break in Hungary, Lewis Hamilton stated that he saw Ricciardo as a dangerous opponent. But according to Christian Horner, it is unlikely that Red Bull will be able to challenge Mercedes for the victory in the next two races at Spa and Monza. However, the Singapore Grand Prix could better suit the Red Bull cars.

As a reminder, the Budapest circuit was one of the slowest and most twisty on the calendar, requiring downforce, one of Red Bull’s strengths for several years. However, the next two events, in Spa and Monza, are fast circuits where straight-line speed is important and should therefore favor the qualities of the Mercedes engine. Christian Horner is aware of the characteristics of these circuits that should affirm Mercedes’ dominance but joked with Sky Sports about a possible good form from Red Bull: “You never know, there might be rain at Spa and Monza might require more downforce for the corners!”

« On the other hand, Singapore must be the next golden opportunity for us. I think that in the next two races, we need to limit the damage because Force India will suddenly reappear, Williams will be fast, McLaren will be fast, and of course, Mercedes will be fast. So we have to take what we can in the next two races and then for the races outside of Europe really try to turn the situation around. »

Daniel Ricciardo, the only driver to have broken Mercedes’ hegemony in Canada and Hungary, expressed his hopes that Belgium’s always unpredictable weather could add a bit of spice to the race taking place over the weekend of August 22 to 24: « I think that in pure dry conditions, Mercedes still has quite a significant advantage over everyone. Spa is a very good place to start the second half of the year. Maybe the weather and the changes could create something exciting. »