Horner reveals technical issue that holds Red Bull back
Following a disappointing weekend for Red Bull, the Austrian outfit's team principal Christian Horner has revealed that a balance issue has been holding the Milton Keynes-based squad back in recent rounds.
While the last two seasons saw Max Verstappen claim an easy victory at Monza, the Dutchman and his team-mate Sergio Perez never looked comfortable behind the wheel of their RB20 at last weekend's Italian Grand Prix.
The Dutch driver and the Mexican racer both extended their first stint of the 53-lap race, but they could not capitalise on their fresher rubber and the offset strategy, ending the last European round of the season sixth and eighth respectively.
Red Bull team boss Christian Horner has defended the Milton Keynes-based outfit’s decision to pursue a two-stop strategy with both its drivers, claiming that graining made it impossible for the Austro-British squad to pit only once.
"Firstly, it’s a great result for Charles at home, so congratulations to him and to Ferrari. We couldn’t have made that one stop work for us today due to our tyre degradation, so for us we got the most of it that we could, and we leave here with a lot of work to do.
"Our strategy worked to a degree but then we started to get into graining ourselves, so the issues we had yesterday were there in the race again. I thought Max did a good job and did everything he could to get the most out of it and get sixth.
"Checo, likewise, drove a good race today and I think where we finished was the maximum we were going to get. Obviously, our performance is a concern right now and the whole Team is working very hard on it.
Pushed on to explain Red Bull’s current struggles, Horner has confirmed that the RB20 has been suffering from balance issues. The Briton insists that despite the difficulties, the Italian Grand Prix has been vital for Red Bull to highlight the areas the RB20 has been struggling in.
"It looks like a balance problem and there needs to be a fix for it, so the Team are working incredibly hard back at the factory to get on top of it. If nothing else, this weekend has really shown where some of our weaknesses are," concluded Horner.
