Red Bull must "continue to develop" title-challenging car - Horner

Red Bull team principal Christian Horner has made it clear development 'needs to continue' on this year's car despite the focus required for the new 2022 challenger.

Max Verstappen has taken the fight to Lewis Hamilton over the first four races of the season to give Red Bull its best chance of toppling Mercedes in either championship since the beginning of the turbo-hybrid era in 2014.

Going into this weekend's Monaco Grand Prix, Verstappen trails Hamilton by 14 points, while Red Bull is 29 adrift of Mercedes in the constructors' standings.

The fly in the ointment, however, is the resources required to tackle the development of next year's car being designed to wide-sweeping new regulations.

With the championship battle so close, Horner said: "We need to continue to develop this car.

"But we also have to be mindful there is a completely new generation of car coming for 2022.”

Red Bull's mini-resurgence has happened during a period in which Covid-19 rules remain a hindrance both at the track and factory, with restrictions in place aimed at protecting the welfare of all involved in the sport.

After closing in on its rivals over the winter, Horner praised the work ethic in the team to out-develop the rest of the field during the period.

“The team is doing a really great job at the moment," he added. "The thing that really stands out to me is the way the whole team has worked tremendously well through the Covid period.

"The fact we’ve probably managed to out-develop all other teams from our starting point last year, adapting to these new regulations, is testimony to the teamwork going on in Milton Keynes in obviously what have been trying conditions for everybody."

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