Christian Horner has highlighted where he believes Ferrari have the edge over Red Bull at the Circuit Paul Ricard. Ferrari topped the second practice session with their strong qualifying simulations ahead of the French Grand Prix, with Carlos Sainz leading Charles Leclerc. Red Bull's championship leader, Max Verstappen, was third fastest, albeit half-a-second behind the lead Ferrari's pace. Having not set a representative lap time, the second Red Bull of Sergio Perez was a further second behind Verstappen, and down in 10th.
"A lot of information" for Red Bull to look at
Despite trailing Ferrari in one-lap pace, Red Bull Team Principal Horner was buoyed by the long-run pace of the RB18s. "We look competitive on the Medium, on the Soft, and on the long runs it looks reasonably okay as well," Horner told Sky Sports F1 . "It was only a five-lap 'long run' but, on the whole, there's a lot of information to take away from that session." Horner was then asked where Red Bull are struggling relative to Ferrari around the lap. "I would say it's probably more front-end [grip] here, probably in the last sector," confirmed Horner. "I think we're competitive in sector one, we're very competitive in sector two. Sector three is probably the bit that we've got to tidy up overnight, but there's a lot to look at."
Horner still expects a close fight for victory
The practice pace at the Circuit Paul Ricard looks to be continuing the season-long trend of Ferrari generally having better one-lap performance than Red Bull. However, Horner downplayed the importance of Ferrari's timesheet-topping laps in FP2, believing that stronger race pace will be the bigger factor at a venue where overtaking is achievable. "If you have a look at that last run there over a five- or six-lap period, then I think we're close," added Horner. "It's been so tight between the two teams in the first 11 races, I've got no reason to believe it's going to be that much different here. "Qualifying isn't quite the premium that it is at other circuits, because you can overtake, so you've got to be on the first couple of rows."
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