29/06/2021
NEWS STORY
As his team edges ever further ahead, Red Bull boss, Christian Horner admits to being wary of Mercedes claim that there will be no further updates to the W12.
If we are to believe what we are being told, the fight for the 2021 titles is all but over.
Though we are only 8 races into a proposed 23-date schedule, the budget cap and the massive rules overhaul of 2022 mean that most teams are already switching focus from this season to next.
Among them, according to Toto Wolff, is Mercedes, the Austrian claiming that, despite Lewis Hamilton's calls, there will be no further updates, certainly none of any significance, and consequently the German team will need to fully exploit what it already has.
"It is a very, very tricky decision," says Wolff, "because we are having new regulations not only for next year but for years to come, a completely different car concept.
"You've got to choose the right balance," he continues, "and pretty much everybody is going to be on next year's car.
Some may still bring stuff - Red Bull has brought trucks or vans Thursday and Friday with new parts - fair enough, it's a strategy, and one that proves to be successful as it stands, because here, they were simply in a league of their own car-pace wise."
With Mercedes admitting that its "wacky" approach to set-up on Hamilton's car at the weekend essentially backfired, and will therefore try a fresh approach at the Red Bull Ring this time around, Christian Horner isn't buying into the 'no updates' claim.
"What Mercedes do is very much their business, so we're just focused on ourselves," says the Briton. "We know that Toto likes to throw the light somewhere else, so I can't believe that they'll go through the rest of this year without putting a single component on the car.
"All we can do is focus on our own job," he continued. "Of course it is a balancing act between this year and next year, but if that means we've all got to work a bit harder than the other teams, we are fully up for it.
"For the first time in quite a while we've come out of the the blocks this year with a competitive car," he added, "and we've managed to optimise that and tune it.
"But you're at the top of the curve with these cars, you're into marginal gains. And obviously when you look at the new car for next year, every time it goes through a development cycle, it's significant steps.
"So it's getting that balance right between the marginal gains for this year and the big steps for next year. But that's no different to how it's been in the past."
Of course, the no updates mantra won’t go down well with F1 bosses either especially, despite the huge problems it faces from the pandemic in keeping the championship on track, as it continues to boast about the busiest schedule in the history of the sport.
A championship decided in early summer is the last thing F1 bosses will want to see.