Renault power ‘can’t hide behind statistics’, says Horner

Red Bull team principal Christian Horner says his team were ‘hugely exposed’ during the British Grand Prix due to its lack of engine power compared to its main rivals and says Renault couldn’t hide it at Silverstone.

After effectively accepting its fate behind Mercedes and Ferrari before qualifying had even begun at the British round, Horner felt Red Bull’s fortunes failed to improve during the race as he saw both Daniel Ricciardo and Max Verstappen struggle during on-track battles against the Ferrari and Mercedes cars.

Horner has put the weakness down to ‘a very tough weekend for Renault’ and felt despite its best efforts it was powerless against its front-running rivals at Silverstone.

“This weekend has been a very tough weekend for Renault. It just very clearly defines where the level is at,” Horner said. “You can’t hide behind the statistics we saw this weekend.”

“We were hugely exposed in both defence and attack. You could see at the restart with Kimi [Raikkonen], it was a bit like Mexico 2015 with that the amount of additional power.

“Then at the second restart he had a moment at Stowe and at the restart still all over Max in Turns 2 and 3. Unfortunately for Daniel he just couldn’t attack Valtteri [Bottas] whilst having a superior tyre and grip and performance. Even with the DRS open we were still dropping back.”

Last month Red Bull confirmed its switch to Honda power from 2019 in its bid to take on Ferrari and Mercedes with backing from a works outfit.

Throughout its turbulent partnership, which did produce four consecutive Formula 1 world drivers’ and constructors’ titles between 2010-2013, Red Bull has frequently been critical of Renault and a lack of power and reliability compared to its rivals.