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Red Bull braced for "toughest" phase of F1 season
Red Bull is bracing itself for what it believes will be its toughest phase of the Formula 1 season, but still thinks it can bounce back strongly in the second half of the campaign.
Jonathan Noble
Edited: Jun 5, 2017, 9:58 AM
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Although the Milton Keynes-based outfit took podium finishes in the Spanish and Monaco Grands Prix, it knows that the high-downforce nature of those tracks has played to its strengths.
With the next run of races – in Canada, Baku and Austria – all taking part on power circuits that are medium- to low-downforce, Red Bull thinks the current deficit Renault has to Mercedes and Ferrari will hurt it more.
Team boss Christian Horner has been encouraged by the progress made with recent updates, but has suggested that levels of confidence for the next few events are not that high.
"I think we are certainly understanding the car better, we are developing the car better, we are getting performance on the car and that has worked to good effect on this type of circuit," he said.
"I am a little worried about two weeks' time and four weeks' time in Canada and Baku, because they are completely different challenges.
"The next three circuits for us are really tough – Canada/Baku/Austria. They are going to be our biggest challenge of the calendar apart from Monza.
"So I think if we can perform okay at those next three venues then, with what is coming in the pipeline for further in the season, then the second half of the season for us can be stronger than the first half."
Red Bull is still awaiting confirmation from Renault about when its upgraded engine will be introduced – with the French car manufacturer aiming for one of the events before the summer break.
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