Hungary a tough race for RBR, says Horner

Red Bull boss Christian Horner was in bullish mood after the Hungarian GP, despite neither RB8 making it to the podium.

Sebastian Vettel had to settle for fourth, while Mark Webber slipped back to eighth after running three stops. But despite the disappointment Horner was happy to see the team bag some points after a difficult afternoon.

“We go into the summer break 53 points in the lead in the constructors’ championship, and our drivers are second and third in the drivers’ championship,” said Horner.

“There are 225 [driver] points still available, nine races to go. It’s going to be full on. Definitely we’ll use this week before the shutdown to good effect, and then it’s a good opportunity for everybody within the company to recharge their batteries before a manic last three months.”

Horner defended the team’s reliability record after a differential problem compromised Mark Webber’s race in Hungary.

“We’ve had the odd issue here and there, all teams have them up and down the pit lane. They tend to balance themselves out and this championship will come down to the fourth places, the eighth places – on the days that you can’t win, the points that you collect. Today was a tough race for us, but hopefully we’ve got some good races coming up for us.”

He also hit back against recurring suggestions that Red Bull has been bending the rules after a series of recent controversies, none of which has led to any penalty.

“The bottom line is the result sheet comes out at the end of qualifying or the end of the race and the car complies with the regs. All the rest is all bullshit. At the end of the day it’s all down to the FIA and the stewards to decide whether the car is legal or not. Every single time our car has been questioned by other teams, it’s always been found to comply with the rules.

“Of course the nature of F1 is that it’s competitive, but the regulations are written in such a way that they are open to interpretation, and from HRT to Red Bull every single team interprets those rules, otherwise you’d have all the cars looking the same. Part of our strength is our ingenuity, and I don’t think we should be criticised for being creative.”