“There will be time to figure out what to do”: Christian Horner feels F1 rivals could get closer to Red Bull in second half of the season

Red Bull team boss Christian Horner recently talked about how his team's rivals can make a comeback in the second half of the 2023 F1 season.

As the season progresses, there are many teams that are gradually moving up the grid and posing a mild threat to the reigning world champions. Hence, Horner feels his team need to be on their toes while focusing on the next year as well.

Speaking to Sky Sports F1, Horner initially explained how his team already have one eye on the 2024 development. Of course, since the RB19 is so strong, its design team has already started working on the next year's car.

Due to the split attention, the British team principal feels that other teams could move even closer to Red Bull in the second half of the season. He said (via formulapassion.it):

“The next races? For us there is already a lot of work aimed at next year, because we have very little time to use in the wind tunnel. So maybe you will see the other teams getting a bit closer in the second part of the season, because we don't have as much time to devote to development."

He also appreciated Red Bull for working extremely hard for both the 2023 and 2024 F1 challengers. He concluded:

"The whole team is doing a fantastic job. It will be interesting to see the next races. Then after the summer break there will be time to figure out what to do. We are focused on this year, but clearly the design team has to think about next year.”

---

Christian Horner on Daniel Ricciardo's chances of returning to Red Bull

Christian Horner spoke about Daniel Ricciardo and whether he could make a return to Red Bull as a driver. Unfortunately, Horner stated that the move is not on the cards currently. Speaking to the media, including PlanetF1, he said:

“It’s not something that we’re planning, that’s for certain. So it was right to give him the opportunity this year to remain within the team and keep him around the sport. I think it would have been a loss to the sport for him just to disappear and I think that I didn’t recognise the Daniel of the last couple of years so I’ll be very interested to see what kind of job he does on Tuesday.”

Daniel Ricciardo will be driving the RB19 around the Silverstone circuit on Tuesday (July 11) for the Pirelli tire test session. Through this, the seniors at Red Bull will also be able to gauge his pace and performance level. Hence, this will be an extremely important session for the Australian.