"Developments aren't being driven in one direction" - Red Bull not favoring Max Verstappen over Sergio Perez, claims Christian Horner

Red Bull team boss Christian Horner shot down any speculation that suggests the team has been developing a 2022 challenger to favor Max Verstappen over his teammate, Sergio Perez. The Mexican currently holds a 57-point deficit against the reigning world champion in the drivers' standings.

In a post-race media interaction at the 2022 F1 Austrian GP, Horner revealed that the upgrades are brought about to bring overall improvements in performance rather than for the benefit of a single driver over the other. He said:

“I’m not sure that’s entirely correct. I think the set-up is crucial. I think that Checo [Sergio Perez] was very competitive in the race at Silverstone, and I think that he’ll have races that we know that he’ll perform very well at. Certainly, the developments aren’t being driven in one direction, just an overall car performance improvement.”

The Mexican has been outperformed by his teammate in every race so far this season, barring the 2022 F1 British GP, where Max Verstappen's RB18 suffered significant floor damage.

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Max Verstappen believes Mercedes needs to work on race pace and consistency across tracks

Mercedes absolutely dominated the turbo-hybrid era, but now find themselves fighting for third in the 2022 F1 world championship, nowhere near the top two teams in terms of results.

Max Verstappen admitted that the team has significantly improved since the beginning of the season, having dramatically reduced the porpoising issues. The Dutchman, however, says that the Silver Arrows are yet to make improvements when it comes to the actual race pace, as well as consistency in performances across different tracks.

Speaking to Servus TV about his former rivals at Mercedes, Verstappen said:

“They are better than at the start of the year but they need just a little bit more. They are not bad over a single lap, but in the race on Sunday (Austrian Grand Prix) you saw we got away from them quickly. I think it also has to do with the different circuits. At Silverstone, they were very fast in the race. It’s the same with us and Ferrari. It’s about the details that can make the difference in the end.”

122 points separate Red Bull and Mercedes in the constructors' standings. While Red Bull is one of only two teams to win a race this season, Mercedes is yet to secure a result higher than third in a given race.