Christian Horner Sends Out a Special Message as Red Bull and Max Verstappen Close In on Making Mercedes Suffer a Double Whammy

Red Bull last won their World Constructor’s Championship (WCC) and World Driver’s Championship (WDC) together in 2013. That was the season when Sebastian Vettel won his last WDC title as well. The next year, 2014, marked the start of the hybrid era. Ever since then, the double accolade has escaped their hands. This year, though, it looks like they got the combination right to win it all.

While the newly introduced regulations in 2014 marked the end of Red Bull’s dominance, the same in 2022 has turned the tables. With new ground-effect cars, most teams seem to struggle to manage the porpoising issue until now. Red Bull, however, overcame that pretty early in the season.

Last season, Red Bull only managed to snatch the driver’s title from Mercedes, but this year, they are well on course to take both championships home.

Christian Horner praises the technical team for a successful 2022 season

The current season started with weight issues for Red Bull. Despite being reliable, the car was carrying too much weight, making it slower than Ferrari. At one point, Max Verstappen was 46 points behind Charles Leclerc. However, as races progressed, the RB18 turned into the beast that it is today.

Red Bull team principal Christian Horner recently heaped praises on the technical team for the feat. “Adrian and the whole technical team. Pierre Wache, our technical director, Enrico Balbo [head of aerodynamics], Craig Skinner [chief designer], Ben Waterhouse [head of performance engineering], I think this is the strongest technical team we’ve ever had.”

“I think the car, the way we adapted to the new regulations, the engineering team, it’s been a phenomenal performance by everybody involved, and Max has I think grown from that first world championship.”

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Ferrari, who started the season on a strong note, failed to keep the momentum going. The car faced reliability issues and altogether couldn’t match the RB18’s pace. Charles Leclerc, who was in 2nd position for so long in the season, fell down the pecking order in 3rd, with Sergio Perez taking the second place in the driver’s standings at Suzuka.

Max Verstappen expected better competition from rivals

The recently crowned 2nd-time champion Max Verstappen recently said that he was furious with the team at the beginning of the season. He, however, admitted that the distance they now have over rivals is surprising.

Verstappen also talked about his desire for better competition from rivals, but hoped that the good run of 2022 continues in 2023. The champion racer currently has a 113-point gap between him and teammate Perez, who is 2nd in the driver’s standings.

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While Red Bull will chase the Constructor’s Championship title for the remaining 4 races, Verstappen will look to win at least 2 more races to break the record for most race wins in a season which is jointly held by Sebastian Vettel and Michael Schumacher. There is still a lot left to follow for fans.