Horner: Winning French GP would show Red Bull F1 can beat Mercedes anywhere

Max Verstappen stormed to his second pole position of the season at the Circuit Paul Ricard, just under 0.3s ahead of Lewis Hamilton.

Mercedes has dominated the French GP in recent years, with Hamilton winning from pole position in 2018 and 2019

Many expected the reigning world champions to hit back in France after struggling for pace in Monaco and Baku, but Red Bull has managed to maintain its performance advantage.

Horner believes a win on Sunday would give his team confidence that it can beat Mercedes anywhere.

“Well it certainly gives us more confidence,” Horner told Sky Sports. “I mean let’s see how tomorrow goes but this circuit has been such a stronghold for Mercedes over recent years. If we can beat them here, then we can beat them anywhere.

“There’s a lot at stake obviously but the whole team is working incredibly well, working long hours. It’s difficult this year because you’ve got the current car, you’ve got next year’s car, you’ve got the cost cap and everything else going on but as a unit to see the whole team coming together as it is and putting this pressure on Mercedes, is phenomenal.”

It is the first time Mercedes has been beaten in qualifying at the Paul Ricard Circuit.

Horner credited running less downforce for Red Bull's performance advantage over one lap.

“We’ve taken a bit of the downforce out of the car - you can probably see by the size of the rear wing between us and Mercedes,” Horner explained. “We’re using less energy in sector two so we are going faster down the straight because we have less resistance there but we are still managing to do a very good time in sector three.

“That’s helping us to generate a competitive lap time around here and hopefully we will be good for the race tomorrow.”

Looking ahead to the battle with Mercedes, Horner is confident Red Bull won’t be outmanoeuvred strategically like it was in Barcelona.

“Mercedes were very quick in Barcelona and we are expecting them to be very competitive again tomorrow,” Horner added. “I think the great thing for us this weekend is that we have Checo up there as well. You saw what a job he did in Baku two weeks ago and having two cars in play gives you different strategic options.

“We are in good shape for tomorrow’s race. It’s important we get good starts, execute good pit stops, good strategy. We’ve got to do all the basics well. It’s phenomenal for the team to have both cars up there.”