Christian Horner feels that Ferrari have edged closer to Red Bull in terms of their straight-line speed. Whilst Max Verstappen claimed victory in the Sprint at the Austrian Grand Prix, the Scuderia were able to outpace their championship rivals during Sunday's main race, with Charles Leclerc passing Verstappen three times during the event en route to victory. Carlos Sainz had also displayed a similarly strong pace, until an engine failure forced him to retire from the Grand Prix on Lap 56 of 71. Leclerc's win has allowed him to overtake Sergio Perez for P2 in the World Championship standings, while Ferrari slightly reduced Red Bull's advantage in the Constructors' standings from 62 points to 56.
Horner acknowledges Ferrari progress
Whilst Red Bull previously seemed to be much stronger on the straights than Ferrari, Horner thinks that the Scuderia's performance in Austria highlights the progress they have made in this area. He is now curious to see whether they can carry this through into the next races on the calendar. "I think they've certainly moved closer in terms of straight-line performance," Horner told media, including RacingNews365.com . "But yeah, it's horses for courses. It'll be interesting [to see] at the next couple of venues how that plays out."
Ferrari reliability issues "not a focus" for Red Bull
As well as Sainz's sudden retirement from the race, Ferrari also faced a tense final few laps due to Leclerc experiencing an issue with the throttle pedal on his F1-75. Horner is not taking any sort of comfort from the Italian team's reliability woes, though. "We're not too focused on that," the Red Bull team boss explained. "That [is an issue that] we can't control or contribute to in any way. I think that we've got to focus on ourselves and just getting the best out of our own package. "They had a very strong car [at the Austrian GP]. They could have well finished first and second. "Up until about Lap 12, the weekend had gone pretty well [for us], in terms of the pole position, the sprint victory. But unfortunately, that tyre deg[radation] just hit us pretty hard."
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