Horner: 'If Max keeps the momentum, he'll be a force to be reckoned with'
Published on 18 February 2019 by Stefan Meens
It is busy, very busy, when Christian Horner addresses the media in the Red Bull Energy Station at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya. Several dozens of journalists try to catch a word of how the Aston Martin Red Bull Racing team boss reflects on the first day of pre-season testing. Verstappen.nl was a keen listener.
What is Red Bull Racing’s goal for this test? Horner: “This week is all about driving as much as we can and to understand the complexity between the chassis and power unit. We want to make sure they work in harmony. So far, so good. The cars produce huge amounts of data that will tell us the characteristics, strengths and weaknesses which will enable us to determine a course for development.”
Horner continued: “Our car is reliable. Max is happy and is working hard with his engineers.” Lap times, however, are meaningless at this point in time. “You might as well switch off the live-timing during the first days of testing. You won’t be able to generate a headline from them. We just stick to our program and thus far we’re happy.”
One of the main rule changes for the 2019 season involves the front wing. Horner: “It was a big change and looking around the paddock you can see teams interpreted the rules differently. That’s exciting. The front wing influences hugely how the rest of the car operates. The regulation changes required big changes. It was a significant evolution to adapt to.”
Apart from the changes on the aerodynamic front, Red Bull Racing have had to content with a power-unit swap, switching to Honda. “They’ve had good winter. They’re making up the gap to the front considerably. Of course, we don’t know what the others are doing but we’re really impressed how Honda go about it and the progress that’s been made. For us, Honda is vital part of the overall puzzle to be competitive, not just for this year but the one after that and possible beyond.”
"Power is a dominating factor, but I have to say that the installation of this engine into the chassis is probably the best one we have ever had," said Horner. "When you look how neatly integrated it is into the chassis, it really is a thing of beauty. The whole engineering team collectively with Honda have done a great job in terms of installing what looks like a Swiss clock into the back of our chassis."
"We're excited to be working with Honda in what is a true partnership, as opposed to a customer-supplier relationship. It's not going to be a fast process, there's no silver bullet, and I think as the organisations learn more about each other and their strengths and relative weaknesses, it's something that will grow over a period of time. But we're really already feeling the benefits of that. It's the first time in 12 years that our factory's had four complete engines in it. That's not happened before."
Apart from all the technical changes, Red Bull have also altered their driving line-up with Pierre Gasly replacing Daniel Ricciardo. Like Max, his new team mate is in his early twenties. “I’m feeling old. The combined age of our drivers is lower than mine, and I’m one of the younger team bosses”, smiles Horner. “But at the end of the day, age is irrelevant. It’s about your attitude. The level of experience Max displayed in the second half of last year was very impressive. If he can keep that momentum going, he’ll be a phenomenal force to be reckoned with.”
