Red Bull v Ferrari to be "horses for courses"

Christian Horner believes the F1 title fight between Red Bull and Ferrari will be "horses for courses", with advantages for each at different circuits.

Max Verstappen recently took victory at Imola to make it two wins apiece for himself and Charles Leclerc, though the reigning champion's two retirements in Bahrain and Australia mean he is 27 points behind the Ferrari driver.

At the four circuits to date, the Scuderia was on top in Bahrain and Australia, whilst Red Bull had the edge in Saudi Arabia and Imola.

Asked if he was expecting a battle royal over the remainder of the year, as was the case between Red Bull and Mercedes last season, team principal Horner replied: "I think it will be horses for courses.

"Ferrari has a great car, great drivers and they are going to be super competitive in Miami, and I think it will be like that for the whole season."

Red Bull hoping to build on momentum in Miami

Leclerc's lead at the top of the table could have been greater over Verstappen had the Monégasque not spun from third at Imola where he eventually finished sixth.

Addressing the various twists that lie ahead, Horner said: "It is so early in the championship, there are going to be swings and roundabouts.

"Obviously, the DNFs have been costly, particularly for Max [in Bahrain and Australia] but it is a long, long season.

"We took an awful lot of confidence out of the [Imola] weekend. The championship... it was important for us to take points out of Ferrari, which we did in both championship tables.

"We take that out of that weekend and try to build on it in Miami, an all-new circuit."

Additional reporting by Ian Parkes

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