Christian Horner feels what Red Bull and Max Verstappen have achieved this F1 season is nothing short of insane given the number of records that have been broken.
Verstappen scored his 19th victory from 22 races by taking the chequered flag in the season-ending grand prix in Abu Dhabi, beating Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc by 18 seconds, underlining how little progress has been made by Red Bull’s rivals during the year.
For Red Bull, it was the team’s 21st win, with Singapore its only blemish on what would otherwise have been a perfect campaign as the all-conquering RB19 for once failed to deliver under the Marina Bay lights.
Asked whether there was any hint of annoyance with ‘the one that got away’, so missing out on a clean sweep, Horner replied: “No, it leaves you humbled that there is still something to strive for.
“It’s a useful lesson that things can change quickly. Singapore was a standout weekend.
“But I never dreamt…you guys have been asking me since about race three, ‘Do you think you can win all the races this year?’.
“To win 21 out of 22 is insanity. For Max to have led over 1000 laps, for him to have won 19 races, to have broken McLaren’s record from ’88, to have broken Seb’s [Vettel] record from 2013 – the win ratios, all the percentages he’s hit, this car will go down, certainly for a considerable period of time, as the most successful in Formula 1 history.
“And I think the way the team has operated across 22 different circuits – certainly 21 of them – operationally, reliability-wise, performance-wise, everybody has done their part.
“All the men and women behind the scenes at Milton Keynes, all the operational staff, everybody has done their bit and contributed to what we have seen in what will surely go down as the most dominant season of Formula 1.”
It begs the question as to what hope there is for the rest of F1 if Red Bull can dominate to such an extent without developing its car since August after its allotted wind tunnel and CFD time expired as a result of its punishment for breaching the budget cap in 2021.
This winter, Ferrari is to fundamentally redevelop the architecture of its car, whilst Mercedes will unveil all-new machinery for 2024.
If both teams get it wrong again next year, 2025 will become almost a write-off given the time and resources required for 2026 when new engine rules, requiring a complete redesign of the car, come into force.
Horner, though, has no doubt the gap will close.
“We saw in 2020 with Mercedes, that was their most dominant year ever, and yet, we were able to beat them in ’21,” said Horner, referring to Verstappen controversially winning the drivers’ championship ahead of Lewis Hamilton.
“There was a subtle rule change but I think nothing stands still. We’ve seen competitors getting closer at different venues and I’m sure concepts will converge. Stable regulations always concertina.”
Pertinently, however, Horner feels Red Bull has reached its peak, adding: “I don’t think we’ll ever be able to repeat the season we’ve had.
“Hopefully, we can take the lessons from RB19 and apply them to ’20 and come up with a car that we can defend these titles with.”
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