Christian Horner says the whole Red Bull team are relishing the closing stages of the battle for the 2021 F1 World Championship, with the final races representing "two cup finals". Going into the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, Max Verstappen holds an eight-point lead over Lewis Hamilton in the Drivers' standings, whilst Red Bull trail Mercedes in the Constructors' by only five points. With this weekend at the Jeddah Corniche Circuit likely to be pivotal in the title fight, Verstappen looked to be in fighting mood during the opening practice sessions on Friday, an approach that stunned pundits Martin Brundle and Damon Hill at the fast and narrow track. Red Bull team boss Horner thinks that this shows how much Verstappen is putting into his bid for the championship. "You've just got to go for it," Horner told Sky Sports . "He's worked incredibly hard, as have the whole team, to get into this position to be here, two races from the end. You've just got to throw everything at it. "And this is Max's kind of circuit - high-speed, walls, kerbs. You can see he was down to a time quicker than anybody else. I spoke to him after the session - he's certainly enjoying it!"
The team "know what they've got to do"
The final two races of the 2021 F1 season are clearly incredibly important for Red Bull, but Horner says he does not feel the need to tell the team what to do as every member of the squad understands their role. Instead, his main hope is that the team enjoy what remains of the title challenge. "Everybody in the team knows their role. They know what they've got to do," Horner said. "The most important thing is to enjoy it. We've worked very hard to get into a position. We've had a wonderful, wonderful year. "We've won a lot of races and, finally, Mercedes have a competitor, and I think everybody in the team has just absolutely loved this fight so far. "It's all about now [and] the next [two races are] like two cup finals. We've just got to do the best we can, and hope we can come out on top." Verstappen finished the opening practice session at Jeddah in second, whilst teammate Sergio Perez seemed to struggle more and ended the hour in 11th. Second practice saw Verstappen finish in third, with Perez having a slightly better session to take P9 on the timesheets.
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