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Horner reveals key 'turning point' for Red Bull in tough 2024 season
Christian Horner has explained why the Austin sprint race was a key turning point in Red Bull's difficult 2024 season. Red Bull racing's team boss reflected on the year in the Las Vegas paddock after Max Verstappen secured his fourth consecutive world title. The Brit praised his whole team for their hard work in a year where they've really felt the pressure from McLaren, Ferrari and Mercedes. Of course, it's still all to play for in the constructor's battle, and Red Bull sit third heading into the last two races.
Horner: 'In Monza, we had a significant disadvantage'
Red Bull started the 2024 season as they ended 2023. Max Verstappen won seven of the first 10 races but then had a mid-season win drought. Six non-Red Bull drivers have had multiple race victories this year, showing that it's been a difficult season for the (almost) once-invincible Red Bulls. Horner indicated that after the Italian Grand Prix, Red Bull was really feeling the pressure.
"Monza is still a long way of the championship to go, and we had a significant disadvantage to McLaren, Ferrari and even the Mercedes at that point. I think the engineers have worked tirelessly, and the men and women behind the scenes have worked long hours, early mornings, weekends to keep getting performance to the car," the team principal told GPblog among others..
Brazil was Verstappen's 'crowning' moment:
Verstappen more or less confirmed his title with a victory from P17 at a rainy Interlagos. According to Horner, Verstappen's title was sown up slightly earlier in his mind. "For me, a real turning point was Austin getting the sprint race victory there, getting on the front row for the Grand Prix, the podium that he scored there. And then, of course, Brazil was really the crowning moment in many respects, it was such an outstanding drive that provided the match point here, and he converted it relatively straightforwardly," Horner concluded.
This article was written in collaboration with Jeroen Immink
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