Christian Horner’s intriguing McLaren observation with ‘too complex’ admission made

Having observed the McLaren MCL38, Red Bull team principal Christian Horner suggested Red Bull may need to “simplify” their faltering RB20.

In a case of picking up there they left off, Red Bull continued their dominant ways at the start of F1 2024, though in recent rounds their RB20 challenger has fallen away from that benchmark status, Red Bull without a win in their last six outings.

Has Red Bull made their RB20 ‘too complex’?

Additional reporting by Thomas Maher and Sam Cooper

During that period, McLaren, Mercedes and Ferrari have all taken to the top step of the podium, with McLaren emerging as a huge threat to Red Bull and their bid to retain the Constructors’ Championship title, the gap down to eight points, while Ferrari are only 39 adrift of Red Bull and the P1 spot.

And as Red Bull look to address the balance gremlins which have crept into the RB20, Horner admits they have perhaps overcomplicated their challenger.

“I think you’ve got to look at all aspects of the car,” he told media including PlanetF1.com at Monza.

“There’s a balance issue with the car that isn’t allowing the drivers to commit to corner entry. So as soon as you calm down the rear, you do that by compromising the front. So then you end up with understeer, and then you kill your tyre that way.

“So I think what we really need to do is get the map… Or if you look at the McLaren, it almost looks like an evolution of last year’s car, a much simpler car than ours. Perhaps we’ve gone a little too complex and perhaps we need to simplify a few things.”

How the F1 2024 standings would look without Red Bull

👉 The F1 2024 Drivers’ Championship standings without Max Verstappen

👉 Revealed: The F1 2024 Constructors’ Championship without Red Bull

The end of Red Bull’s dominant ways came far more suddenly than many had expected, though Horner stressed that on the flip side, this means Red Bull has the opportunity to recover equally as fast.

“The swing is very quick, and that’s something that certainly we haven’t experienced before so quickly,” he said.

“But the fact that it can swing so quickly one way, it can swing back the other way as well. So, that’s what we’re focused on addressing.”

McLaren are now smelling an opportunity at both F1 2024 titles, with Lando Norris having reduced Max Verstappen’s Drivers’ Championship lead to 62 points, as the Red Bull driver bids to make it four titles in a row.

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