Horner sees problem: 'We have to finish races'

Red Bull Racing and Max Verstappen seemed to be on their way to a podium finish in the Bahrain Grand Prix. Nothing was further from the truth, however, as the team was left empty-handed after the race with Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez dropping out. Team boss Christian Horner was disappointed.

The Austrian outfit did everything possible to make things difficult for Ferrari. Red Bull did the undercut twice, but that did not turn out to be the golden egg. Meanwhile, Verstappen complained on the team radio about the way his team handled the tyres. According to Horner, the criticism was not entirely justified.

"If you tax the tyres right away, you pay the price for it later," Horner told The Telegraph. "It's a balance you have to find. We may have underestimated the undercut, but I think Ferrari was simply a bit faster today. Even if Max had taken the lead, they would probably have overtaken us. It was a nice fight between Max and Leclerc. Max knows it's a long year and is pragmatic. But it's clear that we have to solve this."

Ferrari is indomitable for the time being

Horner saw that Red Bull was clearly stronger than Mercedes in Bahrain, but at the same time noted that Ferrari left a very positive impression. It was therefore virtually impossible for Verstappen to keep Ferrari behind him and thus grab victory.

"We have a different concept," the team boss explained to Viaplay. "The technical team worked late on last year's car, so they were also late with this year's car compared to our rivals. They did an excellent job, to be less than a tenth away from the pole and competing for the race win is a fantastic achievement by the team, but we have to finish races."