Christian Horner is hopeful that Red Bull can maintain its Bahrain winning form in Barcelona this weekend – and adds that it will be impossible to judge the situation until qualifying, especially with tyres being such a key factor this season.
“I think that after the first four flyaways we’ve learned a lot,” said Horner. “It’s certainly different this year, I think particularly understanding the perfect operating window for these tyres is important as all teams I’m sure recognise.
“Bahrain was a very strong race for us, and we’re hoping to build on that momentum this weekend. We’re expecting very strong challenges from all the teams that have shown performance so far this year.
“Until we get into qualifying I have no idea, because the form book has been turned upside down this year in terms of what perhaps your expectations are versus reality. I think Barcelona is always a good test venue from a chassis point of view, and that’s why we come here during the winter. I think it will be fairly interesting to see in the conditions and so on who’s made a step forward and who’s managing the tyres best at the end of the day.”
Horner says he has no concerns about tyre management playing such a major role this year.
“I think the tyres are the key performance factor and extracting the maximum out of the tyre at the moment is crucial. I don’t think it’s taken for granted that this will be a circuit that suits our car.”
“They are an overriding element at the moment, but it’s the same for everybody. It’s ultimately healthy for F1 to have a single tyre supplier. In years gone by when there were two tyre suppliers in some instances teams wouldn’t even have access to the tyres that were maybe the preferred ones. It’s the same for everybody at the end of the day. And it’s an added challenge, it’s certainly from the fans point of view produced some really exciting races this year.”
Adam Cooper F1 