Christian Horner seeking high-altitude advantage to offset Lewis Hamilton's US "stronghold"

Red Bull

Horner seeking high-altitude advantage to offset Hamilton's US "stronghold"

Hamilton has won five races at COTA since 2012

Ewan Gale

Monday 18 October 2021 05:00

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Red Bull team principal Christian Horner hopes the high-altitude races in Mexico and Brazil will offset Lewis Hamilton's Austin "stronghold" during the title run-in.

Max Verstappen retook the lead in the drivers' standings after finishing second in Turkey with Hamilton fifth after recovering from an engine penalty but despite the turnaround, Mercedes looked the stronger outfit.

With that trend expected to continue in the USA where Hamilton has a stellar record with five wins at the Texan venue, Verstappen expects the end of the season to be a struggle starting with the next race.

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On why that may be the case, Horner explained: "I think we know the next race in Austin has been a Hamilton stronghold for quite a few years now.

"But then Mexico and Brazil, hopefully, the higher altitude races tended to be quite strong for us in the past, and then not really sure what to expect in the last three.

"It is going to be fascinating but we are going to have to be at the very top of our game."

Red Bull 'extracted maximum' in Turkey

Despite Mercedes' performance advantage and Valtteri Bottas' win in Turkey, Red Bull conceded just three points in the constructors' standings with a double podium finish.

Horner added: "We managed to extract the maximum we possibly could.

"Good execution of pit stops, good strategy, we got the calls right on the pit wall and with the drivers so that was a positive but certainly the venue [was] strong for Mercedes on outright pace."