Red Bull boss Christian Horner has conceded to feeling flattered McLaren has chosen to borrow the team’s car design philosophy as the constructors’ champions close in on a new F1 record.
Since the introduction of new aerodynamic regulations at the start of last season, Red Bull has been virtually unbeatable.
The team is currently on an 11-race winning streak, three shy of the all-time mark set by Ferrari across the 1952-1953 seasons if the two races in the Indianapolis 500 in each of those years are discounted, as some statisticians prefer to do.
Otherwise, Red Bull can set a new record of 12 in a row at next weekend’s Hungarian Grand Prix should Max Verstappen or Sergio Perez take the chequered flag.
At the last race at Silverstone, McLaren at least provided a stern challenge to Red Bull’s superiority as Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri started second and third on the grid in an upgraded McLaren that bore similarities to the RB19.
The duo went on to finish runner-up and fourth respectively behind race-winner Verstappen.
The MCL60, however, is claimed to have the same front and rear suspension as the Red Bull, and a side-impact structure akin to its rival, as suggested by Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton.
“It’s a very similar concept,” said Horner.
“I was looking at the car on the grid (at Silverstone), and it’s the first time I’ve really seen it this year. You can see the philosophy they’ve borrowed is very similar, that they’ve chosen a similar path.”
Asked whether that was a compliment, Horner replied: “Yeah, always. It’s flattering, isn’t it.”
Horner is unsurprised, however, that rivals are beginning to copy the design of the Red Bull.
“It’s inevitable that will happen, and why wouldn’t you when you’ve got a car that’s performing like ours?” questioned Horner.
“It’s fairly logical that you would look to emulate it. Which some teams have chosen to do.”
With Red Bull winning 20 of the last 21 races, it is understood the interest in F1 is beginning to wane.
Horner, naturally, makes no apologies for his team’s level of dominance, remaining convinced convergence will inevitably occur and Red Bull will be knocked off its lofty perch.
“My job is to win, and the one thing we know from this sport is that things will converge,” remarked Horner.
“You can already see it starting to happen, and the most important thing to have convergence is stability, and stability of regulations will bring all of the teams much, much closer together.
“You can see it’s already starting to happen. It’s not going to be another seven years of domination.
“The power units are all pretty similar now, and the chassis evolves much, much quicker than the engines do.
“We can already see from the start of the season to now that things are already converging.”
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