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Horner: "DNF in the first race turned out to be an expensive one"

3 August 2020 at 10:01
Last update 3 August 2020 at 10:04
  • GPblog.com

It is almost certain that Lewis Hamilton will take the title this year in Formula 1, with the big lead that the Briton has built up. Christian Horner looks back to the first race in Austria with disappointment.

In 2020 there have been four races so far, with Max Verstappen on the podium three times. The Dutchman is 52 points behind Valtteri Bottas, who is stuck at 56 points due to his pointless British Grand Prix. The gap with Hamilton, however, is starting to get very big.

This could have been different if Max Verstappen didn't have to stop early during the Austrian Grand Prix due to technical problems. "That DNF at Spielberg turned out to be an expensive one. Especially when you consider that at the time of the problems Max was driving in between both Mercedes. We are still doing well in the general classification because we are sharp on strategy and Max's racecraft, but judging from pure speed Mercedes is just dominant. We have to do everything we can to close that gap," Christian Horner talks to Motorsport.com.

Positive point for Red Bull

Still the team boss has some good news when it comes to the difference with Mercedes. "On Sunday we were on average three to four tenths a lap behind them in terms of race pace. With that we have certainly made a step forward. We were now closer to Mercedes on a circuit that suits them well. Of course we'll have to find more improvements, but at least it's encouraging for us", concluded the Brit.