After a weekend full of controversy for Red Bull at the Singapore Grand Prix, where they saw Sergio Pérez from the top of the podium and the entire paddock speculated on a possible infringement of last season’s financial regulations, Milton’s Keynes traveled to Suzuka for the return of Formula 1 to Japanese lands after the COVID-19 pandemic.
Rain threatened Friday’s free practice dispute, but the water only cost the cancellation of the 2023 Pirelli tire test, keeping the duration of 90 minutes in FP2. Thus, the Austrians rode without problems on a wet circuit, where they could not go beyond third position with Max Verstappen in the second practice, with Checo Pérez behind.
That could be seen as a positive given that their main rivals, Ferrari, finished behind, but the concern comes from Mercedes, who put their duo of George Russell and Lewis Hamilton in the first two positions at Suzuka.
For this reason, the press asked the director of Red Bull, Christian Horner , if the Germans could be a rival to take into account more than Ferrari, to which he replied: “The truth is that it has been complicated.”
“This track is very hard on the tyres, and we only came out with one set of intermediates in the second session, while Mercedes did it with three,” explained the Briton. “So I think our pace is good, it’s hard to draw too many conclusions because you see the front tires degrading quickly here, so the team has to look at a lot of data, but overall it’s been a pretty good day.
“I think it will be interesting,” Horner said of the fight against the Brackley outfit. “With those extra sets of tyres, especially in the first sector, there is a big advantage over a new one. Today’s compounds are probably not as representative, but they are in the fight, they look competitive, and I think that Ferrari is, maybe , out of position too.”
In Red Bull they know that they will have to take into account the changing weather in Japan, and that is that the forecasts point to a dry classification, while the race is expected to be in the rain, so they will have to decide on the set-up of the RB18.
“It’s about finding that balance, because tomorrow looks like it’s going to be dry and Sunday it might be wet,” acknowledged the energy drinks team boss. “So it’s about making sure you have a middle ground, that you have a reasonable amount of downforce on the car, and that you’ve chosen a level that’s good for both conditions.
“Same thing with [suspension] stiffness. It’s those discussions that are going to take place tonight to say how we do it, like whether to prioritize qualifying or the race,” Horner said.
This weekend, Max Verstappen has his second ‘match point’ to proclaim himself world champion, but for this he needs to take an advantage of at least 112 points over Sergio Pérez and Charles Leclerc, although the director of Red Bull does not still want to think about it.
“It’s a big weekend for Max [Verstappen]. It’s more of a possibility than a probability, but it’s another game point for him. That’s what we’re focused on. To be honest, the rest, the amount of noise that has been in around other topics, makes us think they’re trying to distract us.
“However, we are very happy with where we are, and it’s all about this weekend,” said the Milton Keynes-based team’s chief executive officer.
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