Red Bull to "throw everything" at "brutal" title climax

Horner, Red Bull, Turkey — Photo: © LAT Images

Turkish Grand Prix

Red Bull to "throw everything" at "brutal" title climax

Only six races will remain after the Turkish Grand Prix

Ewan Gale

Saturday 9 October 2021 08:00

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Christian Horner has vowed Red Bull will "throw everything" towards the "brutal" F1 championship run-in as the team aims to dethrone Mercedes after seven years of dominance.

No team has been as close to Mercedes with seven races to go in a season since the introduction of turbo-hybrid power in 2014, since when the Silver Arrows have won every championship on offer.

With Red Bull 33 points adrift of its rival entering the final third of the season, asked as to what has changed for the team compared to recent years given the tightness of the battle, Horner told Sky Sports F1: "You just enjoy going to races more.

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"You are going to races in with a chance. The whole team is feeling that opportunity, that chance.

"This is the first time anybody has taken Mercedes anywhere near this at this stage in the season.

"So seven to go, all to play for, we are going to throw everything at it that we possibly can. Are we up for it? Absolutely. Are we enjoying it? We are loving it.

"There are a bunch of races coming up. After we get America out of the way, three on the bounce.

"It is going to be tough and it is going to be brutal on the teams, brutal on the cars but it is going to be a fascinating contest."

Red Bull pick Verstappen "prestige" over team prize

Max Verstappen sits only two points shy of Lewis Hamilton in the race for the drivers' crown and enters the Turkish Grand Prix knowing his rival will begin 10 places back from his starting position by virtue of an engine change.

On which championship meant more to Red Bull, Horner explained: "Well, it is a difficult one because you are so conflicted.

"The cash is with the constructors' so for every single member of the team, that is where Stefano [Domenicali, F1 CEO] pays the money out and we don't get a penny for winning the drivers', but the drivers' is where the prestige is.

"I would say in value, they have equal value. The prestige is with the drivers', the cash is with the constructors'.

"The drivers' is, I think, from a Red Bull perspective if you had to pick one out of the two, you'd go driver because that is where the prestige is.

"We want to be in that number one garage next year and that is our target. Sergio [Perez] has got a key role to play in that, he has had a run of bad luck but that will turn and we are still throwing everything at it in both of these championships."