2023-09-15 12:08:00
The best Red Bull Racing driver at the first practice session in Singapore was Max Verstappen, while Sergio Perez was only 7th on the protocol. After the session, team leader Christian Horner commented on its results and also touched on a couple of other important topics related to Red Bull.
Christian Horner: “This track is one of the most difficult for us during the season, its characteristics do not allow the merits of our car to fully manifest themselves, so we need to act very correctly in order to continue the series of successful races.
As far as we can see, the Ferraris are fast here, and it looks like McLaren and Mercedes are too, so the results could be very close this weekend. The most important thing now is to adjust the balance of the car in accordance with changes in track conditions, and it improves very quickly, so the drivers must adapt to it. Marina Bay is not a stationary track, so the asphalt surface is quite dirty, but changes for the better are happening rapidly.
So far we have checked how Hard and Soft tires work, and in the next session we will continue to follow our program.
If we talk about the new track configuration, which has fewer turns, I have not heard any negative feedback from our riders. Overall, it looks like these changes fit seamlessly into the city ring and also create additional overtaking opportunities.”
Horner was also asked which of the Red Bull youth program drivers they were going to give the opportunity to drive the RB19 in practice.
“It is clear that we have several suitable candidates in this program, but there are also other riders cooperating with us,” he replied. “For example, this is Jake Dennis, the Formula E champion, who is actively working on our simulator, and this weekend we have Isaac Hajjar with us, serving as one of the reserve drivers. So there are several options, but we still have time to decide which driver will get behind the wheel of our car.”
Of course, during an interview with Sky Sports, Horner had to comment on the unpleasant situation in which Helmut Marko found himself. Red Bull’s motorsport consultant has already had to apologize to Sergio Perez for his statements, but the team has not officially responded to them.
“First of all, these comments were incorrect, Hellmuth quickly realized this and apologized – both publicly and personally to Sergio. I think a person continues to learn even if he is over 80,” Horner said. “We take this situation very seriously and responsibly, but Helmut Marko is not an employee of Red Bull Racing. That is why the team did not make any statements.
Formally, he is an employee of the entire Red Bull group of companies, and she made such a statement on the ServusTV channel. And I know that Helmut regrets what he said, so I can only repeat: it’s not too late to study even at 80 years old. Of course, last week we also contacted the management of Formula 1, but this situation has more to do with them and not with the team.”
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