Christian Horner: "Not one ounce of me" wishes Ferrari were putting up better F1 title fight

Red Bull team principal Christian Horner says there is “not one ounce of me” that wishes Ferrari were putting up a better fight in this year’s F1 world championship. 
Max Verstappen (NLD) Red Bull Racing
Max Verstappen (NLD) Red Bull Racing

Max Verstappen’s remarkable fig♉htback victory from 10th on the grid at the Hungarian Grand Prix has seen the Red Bull driver move into a seemingly unassailable 80-point championship lead. 

The Dutchman’s route to victory 🌠was helped by a strategic blunder from Ferrari that wrecked Charles Leclerc’s race, meaning he missed the chance to take a win that would have reduced Verstappen’s adܫvantage. 

A series of mistakes and failures fro▨m Ferrari have inadvertently strengthened Red Bull’s position in both world championships, with the title race already petering out into an anti-climax. 

It mar🅷ks a stark contrast from the titanic championship battle that raged between Mercedes and Red Bull throughout the entirety of last season. 

Asked if there was even a small part of him that would have liked to have seen Ferrari p꧂utting up more of a fight, Horner said: “There’s not one ounce of me that wishes that.

“Last year was a heavyweight bout that went 22 rounds. And I'd prefer not to have to go thro𓆏ugh that again.”

(L to R): Christian Horner (GBR) Red Bull Racing Team Principal with Max Verstappen (NLD) Red Bull Racing on the grid.
(L to R): Christian Horner (GBR) Red Bull Racing Team Principal with Max Verstappen (NLD) Red…

Such is the commanding ꦿnature of Verstappen’s current championship position, he could go on to seal his second world title without winning another race this season.

Meanwhile, Red Bull appear on course to win their first constructors’ crown since 2013,💞 holdi🐬ng a 97-point lead over Ferrari with nine races to go. 

“The points tables look healthy, and it's a great way tജo sign off into the summer break,” Horner added. “But there is still a lot ꧋of racing to go. 

“Ferrari are q♛uick, Mercedes are coming back into the gameܫ. There's still a long, long way to go in this championship, plus a sprint race.

“So we don't take anything for granted. There's still a lot of racing to do and they're at ve𓄧ry different venues.”

Prior to the H🥀ungarian Grand Prix, Ferrari boss Mattia Binotto said he could see no reason why the team couldn’t go on to win all the remaining races to save their world championship hopes. 

In what appeared to be a slight dig towards Binotto, Horner insisted Red Bull wil🃏l always remain cautious about their competit♚iveness. 

“I think even if we'd won by a lap, I'd still have always been naturally cautious,” he said. “I would never make a claim that we're going to🥂 finish first and secon🍒d in the next race.

“It's the way we go racing. We focus on the here and now and take each race as it comes. We’ve not been as competitive on a Saturday but on a Sunday, we’v꧂e been extremely competitive.

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