Red Bull boss Christian Horner has rubbished Mercedes’ claim that the side’s latest Formula 1 updates have been a “downgrade” that has blunted its competitiveness.
The Austrian squad’s dominance with the current ground effect regulations has been tested more in recent times as the chasing pack has begun to reduce the deficit.
Ferrari and McLaren implemented developments to beat Red Bull to a win in the last month, while Mercedes edged the reigning champions to pole position in Canada.
Red Bull attributed its woes in Monaco to the bumps and kerbs, but Mercedes Technical Director James Allison thinks some upgrades haven’t performed as intended.
However, Horner has denied that has been the case and insists the revised parts that Red Bull bolted onto the RB20 car at Imola have worked as the team anticipated.
When asked whether there was truth in the comments that Allison made heading into this weekend’s round, Horner told Sky Sports F1 in Montreal: “No, absolutely not.
“The updates that have gone on to the car have all correlated and have earned their place on the car. There are quite often rumours that percolate.
“There are a lot of cars that look like ours now, they’ve all converged. And I think that’s healthy competition.
“We’ve got to be at the top of our game, to keep ahead and so everybody in the team…
“What we achieved last year was unnatural, it was always going to converge, it was always going to become more competitive.
“And I think every member of our team is acutely aware of that and working very hard to try and make sure that we stay ahead of the rest.”
Mercedes has lagged behind the leading trio earlier in the season, but the marque has been competitive across the Canada weekend and George Russell seized pole.
Horner suspects that the new asphalt that has been laid at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve and the intermittent rain could be suiting Mercedes more than the competition.
“They were quick,” he said. “They always look quick on green circuits and with a new surface here with it just being resurfaced, it is playing to their strengths.”
With Verstappen doing enough to earn a place on the front row, Horner took a dig at Mercedes as he commented Red Bull isn’t concerned with how Mercedes fared.
“I think we’re probably more focused on the Ferraris and McLarens than the Mercedes over the balance of a season,” he continued. But let’s see how things pan out.”
He added: “We’re still learning about the car obviously.
“You can see that there’s been convergence, Ferrari and McLaren they’ve all made progress and Mercedes as well are looking quick here this weekend.
“We’ve got some issues that we know that we need to work on, that there are some tracks that have really suited us, so there’s still plenty of work to do.”
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