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Horner adament Red Bull have "added performance" for the final five races
Christian Horner has said the new upgrades brought by Red Bull to the United States Grand Prix have "added performance" to the RB20. After dominating the early parts of the 2024 season, Red Bull have struggled to stay at the front of the grid, with McLaren finding more pace at many circuits this season. However, thanks to some upgrades bought to the Circuit of The Americas, it has given the Austrian team a boost for the final five races of the season.
Horner happy with "strong" Red Bull turnaround
Before Formula 1 returned in Austin, Texas last weekend, Red Bull were significantly off the pace at the Singapore Grand Prix, allowing McLaren and Lando Norris to take victory by nearly 21 seconds, closing the gap to Max Verstappen in the drivers' championship, as well as extend their lead in the construcotrs' championship over the Milton Keynes-based team.
However, after the month-long autumn break, the Austrian team came to COTA with some brand-new updates for the RB20, which looks to have changed the nature of the car. Verstappen seemed to be struggling just to keep his car near the front of the grid before the autumn break, but after the weekend in Texas, he found himself right back at the front of the grid.
The Dutchman won the sprint race and was heading for pole position in qualifying, but due to a crash by George Russell, he had to settle for the P2 on the grid. In the race, Ferrari drivers Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz proved too fast as they secured a super 1-2 finish, but things got exciting in the closing stages behind championship-rival Norris. After the McLaren driver received a time penalty - for allegedly overtaking Verstappen off the track - Verstappen finished third.
But despite the controversial end to the Grand Prix, team boss Horner was happy to see Verstappen finally feeling comfortable again in his RB20: "It's a combination of factors. The team have worked very hard and they've definitely added performance here. I think there's more to understand and more to fine-tune. But coming off the back of Singapore, I think it's been a strong turnaround," the Red Bull team boss said.
Thanks to the upgrades, Verstappen was able to increase the gap between himself and Norris in the standings, with the points difference now sitting at 57 points, something that Horner did not expect after the weekend in Singapore: "We've outscored our nearest competitor in the Drivers' Championship by five points this weekend. Three weeks ago that looked very difficult," concluded the Brit.
This article was created in collaboration with Jeroen Immink
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