Christian Horner delivers Red Bull warning despite Bahrain one-two

Bahrain Grand Prix

Horner delivers Red Bull warning despite Bahrain one-two

Can Red Bull be caught after such a dominant performance?

Ewan Gale

Sunday 5 March 2023 18:27

Red Bull team principal Christian Horner has urged caution despite a commanding one-two at the Bahrain Grand Prix.

The RB19 was labelled as the favourite ahead of the weekend and duly delivered, with Max Verstappen heading home team-mate Sergio Perez by 12secs and Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso by 38s.

Ferrari was closest in qualifying but dropped away with tyre degradation issues in the race, with Charles Leclerc retiring with a power unit failure.

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After securing Red Bull's first opening weekend one-two in the team's history, Horner told Sky Sports F1: "It is only a sample of one and all the circuits are different.

"But it is a great start for us, to come out of the blocks - unlike last year where we were sitting here with zero points, we were determined to try and address that this year and we have done that in the best possible way.

"The pace was good, the reliability was there, the strategy, it was a good first race for us."

Red Bull warning

Red Bull's caution comes after being outpaced by Ferrari in last year's season opener before both Verstappen and Perez retired from the race.

After three races last term, Verstappen was 46 points down on Leclerc before reversing the deficit to secure his second title.

"It can change very quickly," warned Horner.

"Look at last year, Mercedes came from a long way back and they had a winning car at the end of the year with that concept.

"Ferrari, unlucky with Charles but at a different circuit in Jeddah - I think we need to wait for a sample of two or three circuits, we have only been at one track.

"Let's reserve judgement until a few races into the championship."