Red Bull

Horner predicts reliability "twists and turns" in championship run-in

Sam Hall Tuesday 19 October 2021 13:59

Horner predicts reliability "twists and turns" in championship run-in

Red Bull team principal Christian Horner has warned there is "no such thing as total stability" despite both his team and Mercedes hopeful of avoiding reliability issues to the end of the season.

Max Verstappen took his fourth power unit ahead of the Russian Grand Prix last month with Lewis Hamilton taking only a fresh ICE [internal combustion engine] in Turkey.

The penalty difference for the two different approaches was that Verstappen was handed a back of the grid start, whilst Hamilton dropped only 10 places.

"You can do all the sims and modelling you like and then something variable happens," said Horner.

"There is no such thing as total stability like you have in a simulated world to the end of the year.

"There could be other twists and turns in this, let's wait and see."

Although Mercedes is confident in its strategy, back to back power unit changes for Valtteri Bottas in the Netherlands and Italy lead Toto Wolff to suggest there could be a "batch problem" with its engines.

With just six points separating championship combatants Verstappen and Hamilton, Horner warned of the dangers of Mercedes strategy.

"We have taken a penalty, gotten into a good position, we have taken the additional parts as well, the battery, the MGU-K, the H," explained Horner.

"Lewis has just taken the ICE, the combustion which is less of a penalty but is still going to put a lot of stress on those other components to the end of the year."

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Horner predicts reliability "twists and turns" in championship run-in

Horner predicts reliability "twists and turns" in championship run-in