Red Bull facing ‘biggest challenge’ as McLaren ‘pattern’ emerges

Christian Horner believes Red Bull’s “biggest challenge” before the São Paulo Grand Prix is understanding its struggles on the hard Pirelli tyre.

Although Max Verstappen was penalised for the Lando Norris incidents in Mexico City, the triple F1 champion was critical of Red Bull’s performance, with the RB20 lacking pace, especially on the hard tyres. 

Pirelli’s C3 compound was used as the ‘hard’ tyres at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez, and will be done so again this weekend at Interlagos.

Tyre wear is expected to be significantly higher in Brazil, owing to a resurfacing of the track, which has also been water-blasted, increasing its abrasiveness, with multiple heavy traction zones at the circuit. 

Horner noted that McLaren seemed to have a big advantage over Red Bull, something he described as “a pattern”.

“That’s the biggest thing that we need to take away from,” Horner told media including RacingNews365 when asked about Red Bull’s race pace deficit to McLaren and Ferrari. 

“On the hard tyre, we just didn’t have the same pace and Max just had no grip, we just couldn’t switch the tyre on. 

“That is the biggest challenge, to understand what caused that. 

“Brazil is obviously a very different circuit, but it is a pattern that at the end of a stint, the McLaren is very strong.”