Horner on Aston Martin: 'Nice to see our old car doing so well'

Christian Horner now sees Aston Martin as Red Bull Racing's biggest challenger. Speaking to GPBlog and others, the team boss discusses the strong performances of Aston Martin and Fernando Alonso, and the particular similarity between the two teams' cars.

Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez had little challenge in the Bahrain Grand Prix. Much more exciting was what happened behind them, as there Fernando Alonso managed to pass the cars of Mercedes and Ferrari to take third place on the podium.

"They were very strong in the race today," Horner acknowledged. "It was very enjoyable to see Fernando you know up there it gives the 40-somethings hope that there’s still life in the old boy. Based on the results of one race you’d have to say they are the second-strongest team. I think it demonstrates to all the teams that it’s possible to escape the midfield."

It is hard to deny that in terms of design, Aston Martin have taken a similar approach to Red Bull. One plausible explanation is that Aston Martin currently has Dan Fallows at the head of their development department. Fallows has worked at Red Bull for many years and gained a lot of knowledge under the guidance of Adrian Newey. Horner was asked if he regrets that they let Fallows go to Aston Martin.

"I think we have a wonderful team, everything has to evolve, nothing stands still. It’s flattering to see the resemblance of that car to ours, so it was great to see the three of them on the podium," Horner said.

And then Horner still can't resist joking about the similarity between the cars. "They say imitation is the biggest form of flattery, and it’s good to see the old car going so well."