Horner explains Red Bull rear-wing issue: 'We did not forget'

Christian Horner has shot down claims Red Bull 'forgot' to pack the rear wing required to cope with the low downforce nature of the Las Vegas Strip Circuit.

Red Bull endured a difficult Friday of practice ahead of the Las Vegas Grand Prix, with the RB20 around seven kilometres per hour slower along the lengthy Strip section of the track compared to their rivals.

It led to suggestions the team had transported the wrong rear wing, and that the correct version would be flown out overnight in time for final practice and qualifying. That was rubbished entirely by Red Bull's PR department.

Speaking to Sky Sports F1, Horner said: "I don't know quite where it came from.

"We don't have a specifically designed wing for very low downforce, which is potentially here and Monza.

"The money involved in creating that within the cost cap, you've got to pick and choose where you're going to spend it.

"The wing that we have, you end up trimming the wings to achieve a top speed, and that's what many of the teams have done.

"But we didn't forget our rear wing."

Verstappen shows signs of improvement

At the start of FP3, on a long run on medium tyres, Verstappen and team-mate Sergio Perez again showed signs of trouble.

Verstappen, in particular, bemoaned over the radio that his tyres, the front-left especially, was dead after only a handful of laps, and with the rears close to the same state.

The Dutchman was urged to carry on, but three laps later, he expressed concern he would crash if he continued further.

Returning later in the session on soft tyres, Verstappen finally showed pace around the cold, low-grip track to offer up hope going into qualifying.

Horner has confirmed the team "changed a few things" in between run plans, adding: "We did a long run at the beginning, and I think we probably damaged the tyres a bit when the track was a bit rubbish, and then everything looks horrible.

"We then went on to the soft tyre, and the car was in a much better window, and you could hear Max was a lot happier with it. 

"When you're coming from six seconds off on a race run, to then be expected to go and deliver a lap, that's very difficult. It shows how adept Max is. It's a different formula to go six seconds a lap quicker, so there were some encouraging signs."

Horner joked that given the tyre degradation witnessed, it "could be a four-stop race" and they would not have enough tyres.

In all seriousness, he is concerned as to how the track will fare when the 50-lap race starts at 10pm.

"They open the circuit up, and it gets dirty in the day, so for the beginning of the race, the track could be in a pretty dirty state," he said.