Red Bull does not agree with Hamilton’s F1 assessment

The Milton Keynes-based outfit has been in a class of its own this season, winning all but one grand prix so far en route to a drivers’ and constructors’ championship double. 

While rivals have pushed the team hard at various times throughout this season, the fact that nobody has made a breakthrough to beat it consistently points to the team's advantage staying intact for a while. 

And following a Brazilian Grand Prix where Max Verstappen was once again superior, as competitors Ferrari and Mercedes endured a particularly tricky time, seven-time champion Hamilton offered a downbeat assessment of his prospects in the future. 

Asked about the possibility of Mercedes making the leap needed to challenge Red Bull soon, Hamilton said: “I think, ultimately, all I can do is try to remain optimistic.  

“The Red Bull I think is so far away. I think they're probably going to be very clear for the next couple of years.” 

But Red Bull boss Christian Horner does not see things as straightforward as that and reckons that his team is into diminishing returns with its car concept that will allow others to close it down. 

Speaking about what feedback he was getting from wind tunnel figures about the team’s 2024 challenger, Horner said: “It's always difficult to read too much into those things. I think that it's a lot of world championships that are won in the windtunnel numbers at this time of year.  

Photo by: Steve Etherington / Motorsport Images

Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes F1 W14, George Russell, Mercedes F1 W14, Sergio Perez, Red Bull Racing RB19

“I think that we've got a great car, we've got a great basis. We need to keep evolving it, but of course, the returns are going to diminish because you're hitting the top of the curve.  

“And you can see it will concertina. It will become closer and that will stretch us more, for sure. But the team are very, very motivated. You can see nobody's let off since we won the championship. Everybody's still fully on it.”

Horner said that Red Bull was far from getting complacent about its form, and notable defeats – like it suffered in Brazil 12 months ago – acted as huge motivational moments for it to dig deeper and become better. 

“You have got to keep improving in all areas,” he said. “I think leaving this race [in Brazil] last year hurt, in that our performance wasn't as strong as we would have liked.  

“We felt we didn't get the set-up right. So we learned the lessons from last year and we applied them well, and focused a car on the race.  

“In the end, we came away with a pole, the sprint win and the Grand Prix, with a third and the fourth for Checo [Perez], so it's been a very strong weekend.”