'%20x='0'%20y='0'%20height='100%25'%20width='100%25'%20%0A%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20xlink%3Ahref='data:image/jpg;base64,/9j/2wBDAAYEBQYFBAYGBQYHBwYIChAKCgkJChQODwwQFxQYGBcUFhYaHSUfGhsjHBYWICwgIyYnKSopGR8tMC0oMCUoKSj/2wBDAQcHBwoIChMKChMoGhYaKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCj/wgARCAAHAAoDASIAAhEBAxEB/8QAFAABAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAABv/aAAgBAQAAAAAAc//EABQBAQAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAL/2gAIAQIQAAAAf//EABQBAQAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH/2gAIAQMQAAAAf//EACEQAAEDBAEFAAAAAAAAAAAAAAECBAUDBhESABMVQVFi/9oACAEBAAE/ALem7XZ2uhvIupVMuKyEU3DdAQkI2zt7JPnPJSUpdzd6HKesvBI+uf/EABgRAAIDAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARAQID/9oACAECAQE/ANKqWf/EABcRAQADAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAEAERL/2gAIAQMBAT8A1YE//9k='%3E%3C/image%3E%3C/svg%3E)
Red Bull Racing's Christian Horner feels that beating Mercedes and Lewis Hamilton for the 2021 F1 drivers championship this season would be their biggest-ever achievement if they're able to pull it off.
With six races left and six points separating Hamilton and Red Bull's Max Verstappen, this year's title race has been one of the most closely-contested in years.
Speaking to The Guardian, Horner said:
“It will be our biggest achievement. If you look at the strength of Mercedes and the dominance they’ve had, it’s clear that nobody’s come near them for years. No one has put them under this kind of pressure at this stage of the season. So it will be an enormous achievement if we pull it off.”
Horner noted how, compared to their title fights against Ferrari and McLaren during the 2010s, the battle with Mercedes has more often been fought off the track than on it. He said:
“Compared to the championship years when we were competing with Ferrari and McLaren from 2010 to 2013 this has been very different. There is an awful lot more going on behind the scenes, constant campaigning of the FIA with all aspects of our car. You have to defend yourself if you come under attack as we have from the very beginning of the year – whether it was the concept of the aerodynamics with the FIA to pit stops to other aspects of the chassis, you name it.”
Red Bull's Verstappen unlike anyone Hamilton's ever faced before
Horner also pointed out how Verstappen was unlike anyone Hamilton had ever faced so far into his championship reign, and that it seems to be having an effect.
“Lewis has had an amazing career and he’s still in fantastic form. He’s still a titan of the sport. The fact that Max is able to go toe-to-toe with him is probably something Lewis hasn’t had throughout his career – certainly through the championship years. There’s nothing with this degree of intensity."
Horner feels the lure of an unprecedented eighth title has put considerable pressure on the Brit who is nearing the tail-end of his driving career:
“There’s obviously a lot at stake for him as he’s going for a record-breaking eighth championship, Max is going for his first and he knows he’s got many more years to come.”
The F1 circus heads to Austin, Texas this weekend for the United States Grand Prix. The Circuit of the Americas circuit has traditionally favored Mercedes due to its long straights, and Hamilton has five wins from eight attempts to back it up. This season, however, the races have not always been as straightforward as in years past and Horner will no doubt be hoping Verstappen starts a new trend on Sunday by winning.
