Breaking news
Formula 1
Red Bull: Catching Mercedes, Ferrari down to Q3 engine modes
Red Bull boss Christian Horner thinks the impetus is now on Renault to unleash better qualifying engine modes if his team is going to challenge Mercedes and Ferrari regularly over the remainder of the year.
Jonathan Noble
Edited: May 5, 2021, 4:19 PM
Copy link
Share on Viber
The Milton Keynes-based outfit has made good gains with its chassis since getting over early-season windtunnel correlation problems.
But although its race pace now appears to be as strong as F1's pace-setters, Horner is mindful that its hopes on Sunday afternoons are compromised by it starting too far back – as a consequence of Q3 engine modes that Mercedes and Ferrari drivers are able to employ.
"The car is getting stronger and stronger under race conditions, and again it was a very competitive grand prix for us in Hungary," said Horner, when asked about the role of Renault in his team's hopes for the rest of the year.
"So if we can just find that little bit more [engine] performance. You saw in qualifying that Max [Verstappen] was second-quickest in Q1 and Q2, but you get to the latter part of qualifying and you need that little bit extra to go with our major competitors."
Pushed on whether it was realistic to expect big engine changes this year, with Renault focused on getting its 2018 power unit spot on, Horner said: "I think you need to speak to our engine supplier to understand what their thoughts are regarding engine introduction."
The engine situation has left Horner sceptical about chances for races coming up next – although the post-summer break race in Belgium does at least allow overtaking.
"Hopefully we can be reasonable there," he said. "Austria, we were reasonably competitive there - I think particularly on Sunday.
"On Saturday we are going to struggle. I can imagine us being fifth and sixth on the grid on Saturday and quicker than that on Sunday. The thing I can say about Spa is that you have the ability to overtake there."
We want your opinion!
What would you like to see on Motorsport.com?
Take our 5 minute survey.
- The Motorsport.com Team
Read and post comments
Read also :
Share Or Save This Story
Copy link
Share on Viber
Previous article McLaren's Norris likely to join F2 or Super Formula in 2018
Next article Tech analysis: How Red Bull and McLaren showed their aero prowess
Top Comments
There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?
View More & Comment
More from
Jonathan Noble
Brundle awarded OBE in King’s New Year’s honours
Formula 1
Formula 1
Brundle awarded OBE in King’s New Year’s honours
The new rules dilemma that will define the 2025 F1 season
Formula 1
Formula 1
The new rules dilemma that will define the 2025 F1 season
Verstappen issues Red Bull title warning in push for RB21 progress
Formula 1
Formula 1
Australian GP
Verstappen issues Red Bull title warning in push for RB21 progress
More from
Red Bull Racing
The figures that show Mercedes has lost its supremacy in F1 2026
Formula 1
Formula 1
United States GP
7 h
The figures that show Mercedes has lost its supremacy in F1 2026
Why Isack Hadjar doesn’t like F1 sprints anymore
Formula 1
Formula 1
Singapore GP
Why Isack Hadjar doesn’t like F1 sprints anymore
Latest news
NASCAR explains why they penalized Zane Smith after latest clash with Carson Hocevar
NASCAR Cup
NAS NASCAR Cup
Phoenix II
2 h
NASCAR explains why they penalized Zane Smith after latest clash with Carson Hocevar
Porsche boss Laudenbach says he is "not happy" with how things were handled by IMSA in 2026
IMSA
IMSA IMSA 2 h
Porsche boss Laudenbach says he is "not happy" with how things were handled by IMSA in 2026
Five things to watch out for at the F1 United States GP
Formula 1
F1 Formula 1
United States GP
3 h
Five things to watch out for at the F1 United States GP
KTM sees MotoGP 2027 as a fresh start: “We never had the chance to build a new bike”
MotoGP
MGP MotoGP 4 h
KTM sees MotoGP 2027 as a fresh start: “We never had the chance to build a new bike”
Feature
Discover prime content
Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
You have 2 options:
- Become a subscriber.
- Disable your adblocker.
Subscribe now Already subscribed? Sign in here
Already disabled your adblocker?
Reload page
Manage Alerts
Subscribe