Christian Horner: “The Red Bull is not ready yet”
This Sunday, the 2015 pre-season tests begin in Jerez. Christian Horner has nonetheless acknowledged that there is still much to be done at Red Bull to be fully ready. The English leader believes that the work on the car is not yet finished. However, he hopes that Renault will catch up with Mercedes this season.
Red Bull will try to win more races than in 2014 (Renault says it is aiming for 5), and even challenge the dominant Mercedes if the opportunity arises.
The team with the energy drink brand chose not to unveil the RB11 before Jerez to allow them to maximize production time, five days before the start of the first pre-season test.
A decision that is not surprising, knowing that Christian Horner told Sky Sports that the car is not ready at the moment: « No, the car is not ready yet, we are struggling with its construction at the moment, it’s probably the shortest assembly period in the last ten seasons, the factory is running at full capacity. So, there’s still a lot of work to be done before this Sunday ».
Regarding the RB11 chassis, Christian Horner explains that it will be an evolution of the RB10 used so far. The RB11 will thus focus on development and reducing the engine deficit: « I think it’s only an evolution on many fronts. The chassis is evolving, obviously, there has been a lot of attention on the engine and I think that with the new regulations and the tokens you can allocate, you have to be strategic in handling the expected upgrades you wish to introduce to the engine. Mercedes remains the benchmark in the engine field, they are world champions and are the favorites this year. And they had a significant advantage at the end of last season, » explains Christian Horner.
And to continue: « I hope we will have made significant breakthroughs to gain an advantage, but the question is what Mercedes did last season, and what the competitors have done. We know where we are, but until you get to Melbourne, or even the first three or four races, you can’t really know where you will stand » he continues.
During the 2015 season, teams will have the choice to develop their engines throughout the season with a token system. Thanks to this rule, Christian Horner hopes to beat Mercedes at the right time: « You can upgrade your power units this year in a more strategic way, and Renault has decided to adopt an aggressive development approach for this year. We need to see how we will use our tokens in the four engines we have at our disposal » he concludes.
