Horner responds to Mercedes’ ‘demotion’ jibe after Canada win

Red Bull team principal Christian Horner hit back at Mercedes’ suggestion that its recent Formula 1 upgrade was a “demotion” in no uncertain terms.

Mercedes technical director James Allison had suggested in Canada that Red Bull’s latest updates might have slowed the RB20.

“It looked like a proper ‘demotion’, to be honest,” explained Allison. “So fingers crossed it really has mucked them up. When these things don’t work for you, it makes for a difficult weekend because you lose faith in your tool and then you have to go back, and you’ve just wasted a bunch of time. Time is your best friend and losing it is your worst enemy.”

But with Red Bull winning in Canada while Mercedes’ George Russell could only manage third from pole, Horner couldn’t resist mocking Allison’s comments.

“Even if we were ‘demoted’, we still beat their upgrade,” said the Briton. “It was a race well worth winning.”

Max Verstappen’s victory in Montreal was something of an upset, given the RB20’s weakness over kerbs that had been expected to pose a challenge.

After winning a race that seemed there for the taking in Imola, Horner says he is now particularly interested to see how the team fares on circuits that place greater demands on ultimate aerodynamic performance.

Photo by: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images

“The last few races have been a bit more rollercoaster for us, but we’ve still managed to win two out of the last three,” he said.

“We took pole in Imola and we’ve matched pole here with a car that both drivers felt was compromised. So there are some real areas to focus on to try and improve that.

“We know there are tracks coming up later in the year where ride height could be a factor, like Singapore. But we genuinely hope that Ferrari, McLaren and Mercedes – who found a window this week – can be competitive at every track.

“So even though we’ve won six out of nine, we’ve got to keep performing in the races to maintain that gap.” Though Mercedes was a big threat in Canada, Horner believes it’s too early to say the German manufacturer is back in title contention.

“Mercedes has always gone well on low-grip tracks, and there are no real high-speed corners here,” said Horner. “So the change in asphalt may have played into their hands. Let’s see if they’re genuinely in the mix on the next three tracks or if this was a one-off.”

Translation by Xiaofei Xiao