• Red Bull news

Horner focused on development race

Christian Horner: "I think the teams are very closely matched at this point" © Getty Images

Enlarge

Related Links

• Drivers:
• Christian Horner

• Teams:
• Red Bull

Christian Horner believes the key to the 2012 championship will be how quickly each team can development its car.

The season-opening Australian Grand Prix saw a number of teams closely matched, with McLaren appearing to have a quicker car than Red Bull as Jenson Button took victory. Williams, Lotus and Sauber all showed impressive pace at times, while Ferrari was more competitive than expected, and Horner said he expects to see relative pace change depending on the circuit.

"We saw it last year where there were swings and roundabouts - with some circuits suiting different cars and different characteristics," Horner is quoted by Sky Sports. "So I think there are circuits that will affect performance, but I think the teams are very closely matched at this point. As always, though, it will be a development race between now and the end of the season. Whoever gets the most performance from the car quick enough will see a gain from that."

Horner also said that he expected Red Bull to be more competitive in Malaysia, believing that the McLaren had been better suited to Albert Park than the RB8.

"We knew from winter testing that McLaren were competitive but our race pace was every bit the equal of theirs. Malaysia is a very different prospect from [Australia]. Melbourne is short turns, bumpy, not a lot of high-speed corners but Malaysia offers that variant, so it will be interesting to see how quick McLaren are in Malaysia."

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.