Christian Horner has labelled Red Bull as Formula 1 "heroes" for their efforts in Bahrain, but has warned them not to ease up in 2023. Max Verstappen dominated the 2023 season-opener taking a crushing win as Sergio Perez made it a one-two finish for the '22 Constructors' champions. Verstappen finished 38.6s clear of third-place Fernando Alonso with Ferrari and Mercedes either suffering from reliability concerns or flaws in their car concept. However, despite the dominance in Sakhir, Horner believes caution is needed in Milton Keynes.
"It's easy to overlook [how good Verstappen is] and just what a great job the team has done over the winter," Horner said when asked by media including RacingNews365.com about Verstappen and Red Bull's dominance. "People have a very short memory in this business and you're as good as your last race, and today we are heroes. "Tomorrow it could be Ferrari, it could be Mercedes, it could be Aston Martin, so I think none of us are getting carried away with the result. "It is the start of a marathon and the surface of this track is quite unique. "Let's just wait and see what happens in Jeddah and Melbourne and some of the other circuits before drawing too many conclusions."
Each team developed own 'theme'
Over the off-season, a majority of teams have drifted towards the 'Red Bull concept' of car as it was the leader in class during 2022. Ferrari and Mercedes have stuck with their concepts from 2022, but Mercedes have admitted they got it wrong and are looking for an in-season concept change - potentially with a package of upgrades due for Imola in May. Horner is sanguine about the situation, believing convergence between the field is a given. "The operating windows of these cars is very narrow," Horner said. "Every team in the top three looks like it's developed its own theme, one team has adopted our theme and it has made a gain. "I guess at some point it is going to converge and that can happen during the season." Let us know if you agree with George Russell that Red Bull will win every race in 2023 through the poll and in the comments section below!
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