Christian Horner has been the team principal of Red Bull for a long time now. He has seen good days as well as bad days with the team. Red Bull had a hegemony for four seasons in the past, with Sebastian Vettel winning back-to-back titles from 2010 to 2013. Since 2014 with the introduction of the turbo-hybrid era, Red Bull has lost its grip on the championship.
On the other hand, Mercedes enjoyed a golden run since then that ended in 2021, with Red Bull retaining the title back again. It was a joyous occasion for Christian Horner and the team to celebrate the victory of Max Verstappen as the new world champion. Amid the joy of 2021, the authorities also examined that Red Bull had breached the budget limit by $2.2 million. In the following season, the Austrian team had to pay the penalty for that. Red Bull had to pay a fine of 7 million dollars and a 10% reduction to the wind tunnel for a year.
“It’s Too Soon To Call The Penalty ‘Light’,” Christian Horner
To this penalty, different teams reacted a bit differently. Ferrari boss Frederick Vasseur recently claimed that it was a too-easy penalty for the Austrian team. Vasseur explained, “Red Bull has done a great job with their car, but if you ask me if the fine was light or not, then I’ll say yes, it was.” It naturally did not sit well with Christian Horner, the Red Bull boss.
While answering Vasseur’s comment, Christian Horner mentioned, “It is too soon to tell if the penalty was light or not. We have worked really hard on the wind tunnel and are glad how it worked out in the first three races.”
However, Horner is not too thrilled as he says they are wary of the rumors of new modifications to the Ferrari and Mercedes cars when they head back to Europe. Christian Horner suggests, “I’ve been in this business for far too long to get complacent so soon.” The Red Bull boss assumes things can change anytime as there are 19-20 more races to go. Despite all the troubles because of the ‘light’ penalty Red Bull has done exceedingly well. They are on the verge of clinching another championship as well as the constructor’s title.
Mercedes And Aston Martin Are Far Behind Red Bull
Mercedes and Aston Martin are trying their best to close the gap between each other and the Milton Keynes Team. Albeit, they are far behind the two Red Bull drivers. Fernando Alonso currently holds the third position and is 9 points behind Sergio Perez. On the other hand, Checo is 15 points behind Max Verstappen, the current leader of the standings. However, Lewis Hamilton is 31 points behind Verstappen.
Clearly, he should concentrate on overtaking others at present. Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso is 7 points ahead of the German team’s Lewis Hamilton. Anyway, the seven-time champion knows that his current focus should be beating Aston Martin and Ferrari. If their car gets better, then they can try to challenge Red Bull. Otherwise, it is a free pass for Christian Horner and his team for another championship, three in a row.