Red Bull "complexities" mean no guarantee of success with new driver - Horner

Red Bull

Red Bull "complexities" mean no guarantee of success with new driver - Horner

Rear-end instability has made RB16 a difficult car to drive

Ewan Gale

Wednesday 4 November 2020 08:39

Red Bull team principal Christian Horner has warned there is no guarantee a new driver would out-perform Alex Albon after claiming that a "fast car is sometimes a difficult car".

Albon has struggled throughout the season, taking just one podium in the 13 races so far - compared with nine for team-mate Max Verstappen - with the main issue being a lack of confidence with the rear-end stability of his RB16.

It is the same grievance Pierre Gasly aired during his spell with Red Bull, leading to both drivers unable to match Max Verstappen for pace, and the team struggling for strategy options in its fight on track with Mercedes.

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When asked whether there was a risk of a continuing theme developing, even if the team opts for a third driver in as many years to partner Verstappen, Horner said: "Of course there is.

"I think a fast car is sometimes a difficult car and I think the way we try to generate lap time is on corner entries and the car has had its complexities this year, more so than even last year I would say.

"That has made life difficult but I think we have started to understand that as a team now, and we have brought in some developments to address that.

"That is something we are working on a lot to create a more rounded package that doesn't have these peculiarities so something that everyone in the team is very much focused on."

After a point-less weekend at Imola where Verstappen retired with a tyre failure from second place and Albon finished 15th and last of those classified, Horner is looking ahead to Turkey where his team scored a one-two on F1's last visit to Istanbul Park in 2011.

Leaving Italy behind after Verstappen also retired at Monza and crashed out on the opening lap at Mugello, Horner added: "Italy, three times we’ve come here and three DNFs we’ve had. I don’t know what Max has done in Italy but it’s not been kind to us this year.

"Turkey is a great track. It’s another old-school kind of circuit. We won there last time out on a five-stop strategy with Sebastian Vettel. So it’s going to be interesting.

"They’ve resurfaced I think as well. But it’s an old-school circuit so again, the one benefit of this year is we’ve got to go to these great circuits."

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