Every F1 team should be "worried" by Racing Point pace - Horner

Red Bull team principal Christian Horner believes all of the Formula 1 teams should be concerned by the pace of Racing Point.

Sergio Perez, in particular, delivered a stunning drive throughout the Styrian Grand Prix to rise from 17th on the grid to push for fourth in the closing stages.

A minor collision, however, in challenging Red Bull's Alex Albon that caused front-wing damage led to the Mexican taking the chequered flag in sixth.

What was eye-opening, though, was Perez's pace on the medium tyre before his altercation with Albon for although his rubber was 11 laps fresher than Hamilton, his lap times matched those of the eventual race-winner.

"I think everybody would be worried by the Racing Point," remarked Horner when asked for his assessment of the RP20's pace. "He [Perez] was quicker than the Mercedes at that point in the race.

"Bearing in mind that [Valtteri] Bottas was on tyres that were within one lap of age to the Racing Point [there were four laps difference], Perez was three or four tenths quicker. So it was a very impressive pace that they showed."

Racing Point is now the subject of an investigation by the FIA of its brake ducts following a protest by Renault which it has described as "misconceived and poorly informed".

Horner is naturally focused on improving his own team's car that left Max Verstappen describing it as "just too slow" after finishing third behind a Mercedes one-two.

As to the possibility of further updates on the car for this weekend's race in Hungary, Horner said: "We've only a few days, we haven't got a great deal of time.

"Whatever we can get to the car to improve the car, we had a few little bits this week, the whole factory is working incredibly hard.

"I felt we improved the car from last week to this week. Hopefully, we can do the same again during the next few days."

Horner at least gave Mercedes credit where it was due following his main rival's back-to-back wins at a circuit where Red Bull and Verstappen had triumphed in 2018 and 2019.

"Mercedes has under-performed in recent years," said Horner. "They struggled in the heat, and they struggled in the heat [again] on Friday.

"It was very cool for the race and they've performed well. They deserve that result. They were the best team, and we're going to be working even harder to try and catch them."

Before you go...

Styrian GP the "best race of my F1 career" - Norris

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