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Red Bull team boss Christian Horner believes that wind tunnel problems at the factory harmed the team at the start of the 2017 season. The Milton Keynes-based squad started the championship far behind Mercedes and Ferrari, but have since closed the gap dramatically.
Red Bull started the year with the hope of challenging Mercedes for the title. The team has taken one victory so far, which came at the hands of Daniel Ricciardo in Azerbaijan. Horner said that being on the back foot straight away meant they had to work twice as fast.
"The race track didn't show what our tools had promised," team boss Horner told Auto Motor und Sport. "It put us back two months, but then you have to work twice as fast as the others because they're not standing still. It was mainly the wind tunnel that let us down. The larger model and tyres gave us different results between the track, the CFD and the wind tunnel."
Another key factor in the lack of pace from Red Bull is the Renault engine. It is not as competitive as rivals Mercedes and Ferrari, and when Horner was asked how much time he thought the French manufacturer has made up, he said: "I'd say two-tenths. By Renault's own estimates they are behind their targets, but they are working very hard to catch up."
Fergal Walsh
Grand Prix of Belgium
G. Zhou
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Replies (4)
Login to replycalle.itw
Posts: 8,527
Two tenths is decent, but it wont help them against Ferrari or Mercedes. As for Renault working hard to catch up... Yes, maybe they are, but they are working for the next year. So dont hurry with lighting candles and throwing rose petals on your bed, Horner, because that engine upgrade you are ready to seduce might not come.
f1fan0101
Posts: 1,804
I think they'll be up there in 2018
talktohenry
Posts: 362
Think it's more than AN's design just had a off year as he's always pushing the boundaries and sometimes, it doesn't always just go his way......
Ram Samartha
Posts: 1,172
Sounds like Horner's way of letting Newey off the hook for missing the mark this year. If you remember the beginning of the season, everybody was astonished at the simplicity of their design when Ferrari and the Mercs had all kinds of new aero innovations.