Red Bull boss Christian Horner has denied Max Verstappen gained a “significant advantage” from a fresh engine during his win at the Formula 1 Sao Paulo Grand Prix.
Verstappen’s reoccurring power unit issues in practice in Mexico meant that he was consigned to needing to take on new parts that exceeded his seasonal allocation.
Red Bull decided to incur the grid drop last weekend in Brazil, which dropped Verstappen to 17th place as an ill-timed stoppage in qualifying saw him eliminated in Q2.
The Dutchman was on another wavelength compared to his rivals as a six-position gain on the opening tour contributed to him running as high as sixth inside 10 laps.
However, Horner has dismissed that the new powertrain in Verstappen’s RB20 held a role in the ease with which he was overtaking other drivers in the nascent stages.
“Of course, everything is a package, but I don’t think there was a significant advantage in terms of horsepower or anything like that today,” Horner told media including Motorsport Week.
“All the overtaking Max did was on the brakes, not on a straight line. So we elected to take that engine here, because it is a track that you can overtake at.
“We were regretting that at lunchtime, but sitting here now we’re quite grateful that we made that choice.”
Red Bull competitive in all conditions
Horner has expressed Red Bull’s pace in the wet was not a surprise to the side as it had shown good competitiveness at Interlagos earlier in the weekend in the dry.
Asked to pinpoint the reason behind the car being so good in the wet, Horner replied: “I think it was competitive in the dry yesterday.
“I think that had we managed to have passed Charles [Leclerc] earlier yesterday, he would have been able to get into the McLarens.
“So already it was showing signs of real competitiveness yesterday. And in the wet, it performed brilliantly.”
Red Bull back on track
The upgrades that Red Bull introduced last month served to address the RB20’s past balance issues and inspired Verstappen to front-row starts in Austin and Mexico.
But while that hadn’t carried over into the races in Austin and Mexico, Horner believes that Red Bull’s encouraging showing in Brazil proves it is back on the right track.
“I think the team have worked very hard to try and understand these tyres,” he explained. “And it varies.
“Seven days ago [in Mexico] it was a different scenario and Ferrari were looking incredibly good on their degradation.
“I think we made a step forward in Austin, winning that Sprint race. We didn’t feel like we capitalised enough out of that weekend.
“And I think the upgrades that we’ve bought really started to get the most out of them. Here it felt like over the weekend in Brazil.”
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