While Sergio Pérez seems the only one who can compete with Max Verstappen in the race for the title this season, the boss of the Red Bull Racing team Christian Horner has assured that the Dutchman and the Mexican will have plenty of time to fight on the track.
Christian Horner does not intend to take sides… at least for the moment. While Max Verstappen and Sergio Pérez shared victories in the first four Grands Prix of the season with a comfortable margin over the competition, the two Red Bull Racing drivers are only six points apart before rallying Miami at the weekend. next. Asked after the Azerbaijan Grand Prix about the possibility of giving instructions to the Dutchman and the Mexican, Christian Horner said that it was not in the news last weekend and that it has not yet been the case this year.
“They are two competitive drivers, they both want to win, which is why they are employed by the team, said the British leader in remarks collected by the British magazine Autosport. I think it all depends on what they are doing on the track. They were free to fight in Baku, they have been from the start. However, Christian Horner did not hide that the ghost of the collision between Daniel Ricciardo and Max Verstappen during the 2018 edition of the Azerbaijan Grand Prix was still in the memory. An incident that was mentioned during the pre-race briefing this Sunday in order to prevent this from happening again.
The first of five races in six weeks 🏁 A great effort from the whole Team 🤘
Let’s keep this up heading into Miami 😎 pic.twitter.com/MIj0LHlxTA
— Oracle Red Bull Racing (@redbullracing) April 30, 2023
Horner: ‘Right now they’re free to fight’
« They were free to fight but we didn’t want a repeat of 2018, said the boss of the Red Bull Racing team. They pushed each other as hard as they could in the race, it was a tiny gap that separated them today (Sunday). “If such freedom is linked to the very clear advantage obtained by Red Bull Racing in terms of performance, it could be called into question if the competition should approach as the season progresses. ” Yes, until the interests of the team, if you are fighting against a competitor, become more important than the interests of the driversanswered Christian Horner to the question of a possible limit to the freedom granted to pilots.
But for now, they are free to fight. “Sergio Pérez, meanwhile, assures that winning the title of world champion is his objective and intends to give himself the means to do so. “With three children at home, I will not travel to the four corners of the world if I am not convinced that I can become world champion and I am working to achieve this goalsaid the Mexican in remarks collected by ESPN. Without the problems we had in qualifying in Melbourne, we should be leading the championship. It is therefore clear that everything is in place to believe in the idea of doing well this year. We must hope for Christian Horner that the internal rivalry does not turn into a pitched battle like Hamilton-Rosberg between 2014 and 2016.