• Red Bull news

Horner unmoved by McLaren's rehtoric

ESPNF1 Staff
March 29, 2011 « Barrichello hampered by DRS glitch | »
Christian Horner: "Of course McLaren say they will win ... whether they believe it or not is another thing" © Getty Images
Enlarge
Related Links

Red Bull team principal Christian Horner doubts his opposite number at McLaren - Martin Whitmarsh - truly believes his team has the potential to take victories at the upcoming races.

Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel stormed to the top step of the podium at the opening round in Australia, taking the chequered flag 22 seconds ahead of McLaren's Lewis Hamilton in second.

Part of that gap can be accounted for by a flapping undertray on Hamilton's car, which eased the pressure on Vettel and forced the Briton to "nurse" his car home. And Whitmarsh believes the rest of the gap can be made up by better understanding the MP4-26, which received a significant upgrade at the eleventh hour in Australia to replace its problematic and overcomplicated exhaust used during winter testing.

"We've seen a lot of exhaust blowing, and this is because increasingly the rear diffuser has become boxed in by the regulations," Whitmarsh told GP Week. "It's quite difficult within these regulations to create performance differentiation. We had some very create solutions of our own, but they were very difficult to achieve technically, too ambitious.

"We've stepped back a little bit, said let's find a simpler solution. Given the timeframe we gave ourselves it's unlikely that we've optimized the solution. I'd be disappointed if we can't really make some progress now on the diffuser, floor and exhaust system. Lewis and Jenson are still learning about the car, which they only first drove on Friday really. There's a limit to how exploratory you can be given the restrictions on tyres and laps on a grand prix event."

He added: "What we had here in Melbourne was put together pretty quickly and wasn't the best job we can do. Now we have to make it better for Malaysia. We leave Australia knowing we had a car capable of taking two places on the podium. It was genuine pace."

But Horner questions Whitmarsh's conviction and doubts Red Bull, which left the performance-enhancing KERS off the car at Melbourne, can be caught so easily.

"Of course McLaren say they will win, otherwise there would be no point in him turning up at the next race," Horner told the Times "Whether they believe it or not is another thing. "They are a great team and they have made massive steps. They always have strong development during a season but we outdeveloped them last year, we did it the year before and we are determined to do it again."

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.
ESPN Staff Close