Christian Horner fears that Ferrari are going to be "super competitive" at the Miami Grand Prix after the pendulum swung in Red Bull's favour at Imola. Armed with a slimmed-down RB18 car, and carrying fresh upgrades , Max Verstappen was able to complete a second career Grand Slam on the Scuderia's home soil. He did so by taking pole position and winning the race, as well as leading every lap and claiming the bonus point for the fastest lap. That left Charles Leclerc, who had a brief meeting with the tyre barrier following a spin, to come home in sixth, while Carlos Sainz suffered a second consecutive DNF.
Red Bull taking big confidence from Imola
It was something of a gamble from Red Bull to run their upgrades, given the limited practice time available to them over the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix weekend due to the addition of the Sprint, but it looked to have paid off. Horner admits that this has come as a boost to the team, but acknowledges that things could change in the coming races. "It's so early in the championship, and there's going to be swings and roundabouts," said Horner, speaking to members of the media, including RacingNews365.com . "The DNFs have been costly, particularly for Max, but it's a long, long season and I think we'll take a lot of confidence [out of Imola]. "For the championship, it was important for us to take some points off Ferrari, which we've done in both championship tables." Confidently, Horner added: "We'll take that and then try and build on it in Miami, at a whole new circuit."
Horner expecting pendulum to swing back and forth in 2022
Despite Red Bull having seemingly stolen a march on Ferrari in terms of sheer performance, Horner is expecting the two teams to trade blows over the course of the campaign, with the fastest car being dependent on the venue. With this in mind, he is anticipating that the Italian outfit will bounce back at the next F1 weekend in Miami. "I think it'll be, again, horses for courses," Horner said, with 19 races remaining. "I think that Ferrari have got a great car, they've got great drivers, and they've been unlucky [at Imola]. "But for sure, they're going to be super competitive in two weeks' time, and I think it'll be like that for the whole season."
Binotto not shocked by Red Bull's fight back
For Ferrari, Red Bull's upgrades at Imola came as no shock, with the team expectant of development progress by their rivals. However, the Scuderia's team boss, Mattia Binotto, says they are taking confidence in the dominance that they were able to show in Australia, only two weeks prior to the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix. "Certainly, they're strong and we know that they are developing the car," Binotto told Sky Sports F1 . "But two weeks ago, in Australia, we saw we had the best car. Today [at Imola] it is the opposite. "It will be race-by-race, the balance may change a bit. But again, I think we have a good package overall. "We were second in the quali[fying] that was [in] the wet conditions, and [in] the dry, I think we had a good Sprint race. So overall, I think we can keep the smile. "We know that developing will be a key element of the season, no doubt. We know that Red Bull will be very strong, they're coming back. "But again, we will review the race of today and move forward."
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