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Christian Horner felt that the Red Bull Racing drivers did an exceptional job to achieve another 1-2 finish at the 2024 Saudi Arabian GP.
Red Bull drivers Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez locked out the top two spots on the podium for the second race in a row in 2024. The former led the latter by a slightly narrower margin of 13.6 seconds instead of the 22.4 seconds in Bahrain, where he had lapped half the grid.
Horner had mentioned after the Bahrain race that the grid would bunch up at some point. Speaking in Saudi Arabia, the 50-year-old team principal felt that it was a very strong showing by the team and that it would take a few more venues on the grid before they could be confident of their place in the pecking order.
Asked by Sportskeeda about the dominant display and his expectation of cars converging in 2024, the Red Bull Racing chief said:
“Well the cars did converge because Checo was eight seconds or nine seconds behind his teammate at the time at the chequered flag. So it was a very strong team performance today. It was unfortunate we got the five second penalty, but thankfully we had enough in hand that it wasn't going to challenge.
"It's great to see RB20 performing very strongly at another type of venue, another surface, another street layout. I think Melbourne will be different again. It's going to take four or five races to get a clearer picture, but again a very strong team performance today and both drivers did an exceptional job.”
Christian Horner believes Max Verstappen will stay at Red Bull Racing
Christian Horner feels that every team wants to have Max Verstappen as their driver, including Toto Wolf, who expressed his desire to sign the Dutchman. The Red Bull Racing CEO retorted the Mercedes CEO’s other quote, which also stated that the best drivers want the best cars.
Horner felt most of the Dutchman’s achievements have been in the Milton Keynes team's cars and they have a great work relationship. He felt that it took an entire team to achieve what they have and it worked well for their lead driver.
Asked if he risked losing Verstappen to his rivals despite the double victories and dominance in 2024, Horner said:
“Look, I'm sure every team in the paddock would love to have Max, but as Toto also said, the best drivers always want to be in the best cars. So, we're a team. Max has achieved his 56 Grand Prix victory today and his 100th podium, all of which have been achieved in Red Bull Racing cars. And you know as a team we perform you know exceptionally well together and everybody has a role to play in that team."
"Whether it's from the designers the support staff, the operational staff all the way through all different departments, the 22 different departments that make up Red Bull Racing. If everybody isn't doing their part, you don't have a performance like this. So as a team, we're performing at an exceptionally high level and we expect to see that continue."
The aftermath of the Red Bull investigation led to Helmut Marko suggesting pre-qualifying that he could be suspended. The ripple effect of the Austrian’s statements led to the reigning champion suggesting that it would be hard for him to work in a team without the senior veteran's guidance.
With rumors swirling in the paddock about the Dutch champion and Marko joining Mercedes in 2025, Horner remained adamant that all was well within the team. He felt that although he can’t force someone to stay, he didn’t see a reason why anyone would leave a dominating team like Red Bull Racing.
Pressed further on whether he didn’t risk losing him, Horner replied:
“Look. You can never say never. If a driver doesn't want to be somewhere, then they'll go somewhere else. But as a team, I can't see any reason, you know, why anybody would want to step out of this team.”
