Max Verstappen's drive from ninth on the grid to first in Miami saw him lead home Red Bull's fourth one-two of the 2023 season; both Mercedes and Ferrari are planning upgrade packages for the next round in Imola; watch the Emilia Romagna GP on Sky Sports F1 on May 19-21
Tuesday 9 May 2023 06:24, UK
Christian Horner was left to wonder what has become of Red Bull’s rivals after Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez completed another one-two for the team at the Miami Grand Prix.
Despite only qualifying ninth in Saturday's curtailed session, Verstappen was able to scythe his way through the field and match last year's triumph in Miami with pole-sitter and title rival Perez following him home in second.
The duo finished more than 26 seconds clear of third-placed Fernando Alonso, while Mercedes' George Russell and Ferrari's Carlos Sainz were more than 33 and 42 seconds back respectively, leading to Red Bull team principal Horner questioning what has happened to their expected title challengers.
"Five races, five wins plus the sprint, and four one-two finishes - we've never had a start like this and we're kind of wondering 'where are the others?'," Horner told Sky Sports.
"We've made a normal step, we think, over the winter, and it's more where did Ferrari and Mercedes go?
"I'm sure they're working on big upgrades for Europe and with the penalty we have to develop the car later in the year, it's important we have to get as much fresh air between ourselves and the opposition at this stage."
Reigning champion Verstappen's third win of 2023 put him 14 points clear of team-mate Perez at the top of the drivers' standings after being able to make the hard-compound tyres last for 46 laps of the 57-lap race before pitting to switch to the mediums for his last stint.
The Dutchman acknowledged Ferrari and Mercedes could both close the gap by the time the series returns to Europe for the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix at Imola in two weeks' time, but believes Red Bull will have some upgrades of their own up their sleeves.
"We have a decent advantage, especially in the race," Verstappen said. "Over one lap at some tracks definitely some cars will be close or in front, like you could see in Baku.
"Definitely the race pace advantage, I think, is quite big at the moment.
"It's not the others are bringing new bits and we are just standing still, right? Hopefully we can keep it going."
Red Bull do, however, have a 10 per cent reduction in the aerodynamic testing they are allowed to do as part of their punishment for breaching the 2021 cost cap limit, which could open the door for their advantage to be narrowed.
That is something Horner is conscious of and he expects to see a difference as soon as the next race on the calendar when Ferrari and Mercedes bring their upgrade packages.
"I think you'll see from the next race," Horner said. "There are big upgrades coming and we're having to be super-selective in what we test and how we develop the car.
"Thankfully, the car has got off to a great start and therefore we're not having to solve big issues and problems. We're able to focus on those incremental gains, but I do expect it still to converge later in the year."
Russell, who claimed fourth in Miami with team-mate Lewis Hamilton sixth, cautioned against expecting too much from Mercedes' much-vaunted upgrade package.
The 25-year-old expects some improvements but does not expect the package to provide a silver bullet for the issues the team have faced with the W14 so far this year.
"There is a lot of expectations on Imola but at the end of the day, we finished 30-odd seconds behind the leaders today and we still finished quite a bit behind Fernando," Russell said.
"I am sure it is going to take a step in the right direction, but it is not going to transform things. Let's hope it does.
"The car is a little unpredictable at the moment so hopefully it exceeds our expectations in the next race, but it is going to be a long journey."
Sainz's Ferrari team-mate Charles Leclerc, who brought his car home two places behind Sainz in seventh, felt there was still much work for the Maranello-based outfit to do to find a level of consistency for their car in races.
"We are competitive in qualifying, but once we come to race day we are struggling like crazy," Leclerc said. "The window of our car is so narrow and whenever you get a little bit out, it has huge consequences on the balance.
"It's from one corner to the other and even one corner you can have huge understeer which goes to huge oversteer.
"We have a lot of work to do. We need to find something now."
Formula 1 returns to Imola for the Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix from May 19-21. Watch every session live on Sky Sports F1 including the race from 2pm on Sunday May 21.
