F1 News: Christian Horner Shrugs Off Toto Wolff's Max Verstappen Claims - "Long Season"
Christian Horner has addressed Toto Wolff's remarks regarding Max Verstappen's performance from a "different galaxy" during the Bahrain Grand Prix, indicating that he won't base the season's outcome on just one race. The Red Bull team boss stressed that with a lengthy season ahead, the Formula 1 grid is likely to eventually level out.
Key Takeaways:
- Christian Horner addresses Toto Wolff's comments on Max Verstappen's Bahrain Grand Prix performance, noting that one race won't determine the season's outcome and expressing confidence in the Formula 1 grid leveling out over time.
- Wolff's acknowledgment of Verstappen's dominance in the 2023 season is mentioned.
- Horner remains cautious about drawing conclusions from Bahrain, expecting the field to converge and anticipating a challenging season ahead, with focus already on the next race in Jeddah.
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Wolff's comments seem to resonate with the 2023 Formula 1 season, which saw sheer dominance from Max Verstappen, whose "meritocracy" was well appreciated by the Mercedes team boss.
The 2023 flavor was evident in Bahrain last weekend, where Verstappen proved victorious by pulling a 20+ second lead over his teammate Sergio Perez, who finished P2. When Horner was asked about the comments and the scene of Red Bull's dominance, he revealed a different opinion. Speaking to the media after the Bahrain GP, he said:
“I’ve been in this business too long to draw too many conclusions from a single race.
“It’s a fantastic start, we’ll enjoy this moment, a maximum point score, but it’s a long season.
“Many different venues, different challenges, different conditions, and what we saw in the testing is things that are closer now.
“We got it right this weekend, we took the right tyres into the race, we executed a perfect race with both cars, and we got a great finish. But I think that it will converge.”
Speaking further about the grid converging, Horner added:
“It’s what we’re here to do. It’s why we’re all here, is to go racing.
“And I’m sorry that it wasn’t a more entertaining race for you today, but that is the result of the team doing its job and producing an incredible car.
“Now, we have a sample of one race. I have the feeling that the field is going to concertina this year, so I don’t think you can take anything for granted out of this one race on a specific surface, specific conditions, and I have a feeling that this season will be a lot more challenging on track than last season.
“But, it’s the best possible start and our minds are already thinking about five days’ time in Jeddah.”