Horner expects a turnaround from Austin upgrades

Ahead of the United States Grand Prix, Red Bull team boss Christian Horner hopes that the upgrade package that will arrive for the Austin round will significantly improve the RB's 20 balance.

Having struggled for pace in recent rounds, reigning champion Max Verstappen returned to the podium, securing a second place for Red Bull last time out at the Singapore Grand Prix. The result also meant that the Dutchman is yet to win at the Marina Bay Circuit, while his second place also saw his current winless streak extend to eight Grands Prix.

The Dutch driver finished the race some 21 seconds behind race winner Lando Norris on a track that has been a historically tough circuit for the Milton Keynes-based outfit.

With Formula One enjoying a long four-week gap between the Singapore and the United States Grands Prix, several teams have been busy with developing some upgrades for the closing leg of the current season. Red Bull is also set to hit the track with an upgrade package from which team boss Christian Horner hopes a lot.

“I think for all teams, Austin will be a natural time of the year to bring some news. We have something important, but I think Ferrari, Mercedes, and McLaren will also have updates.

"Our goal is to build on the basis of what we began to understand clearly after Monza and bring a car that is well balanced between the two axles to give confidence to the driver, but it will not be easy. The first sector of the Circuit of the Americas is fast, but part of the track has also been resurfaced, so variables are added.

"In addition, it will be a sprint race weekend, so we will have to start strong right away. But the whole team worked hard to understand the problems and solve them and, if everything goes well, to remedy the situation already from Austin.”

Pushed on to reveal what he expects from the upgrades, Horner insisted that Red Bull hopes that the new package will have a positive impact both on the mechanical and the aerodynamic performance of the RB20.

“If we look at Lando’s performance in the first stint in Singapore, we need about 23 seconds. We started to figure things out and find some solutions, but we have a lot to do.

"Obviously, it will depend on how the car responds from a mechanical and aerodynamic point of view, but also on the tires, which are particularly sensitive this year. Monza decisive? There we saw the first signs of the problem because, when we removed the load from the car, the detachment between the front and rear axles was highlighted.

"And the data we collected on the track was very far from what we expected to see from our simulation tools.”