Now that Red Bull surpassed Ferrari in the 2016 F1 Constructor Standings, their next goal is to look forward at narrowing the gap with Mercedes rather than fending off the Scuderia.
Thanks to Daniel Ricciardo and Max Verstappen’s podium finishes in Germany, Red Bull moved 14 points clear of Ferrari, while trailing Mercedes by 159 points, as reported by Autosport. However, if the two Red Bulls manage to split the Mercedes guys a few more times, it’s possible the gap will begin to decrease.
“Our objective is to close that gap further to Mercedes ahead,” said team principal Christian Horner, while suggesting that his team is only 0.3 seconds shy of matching the champs.
“You’ve always got to look ahead rather than behind. We’ve had great performance at a variety of circuits from Austria to Silverstone to Budapest and Germany. They are four very different venues, four different surfaces and that bodes well for the second half of the season.”
Even though both Red Bull as well as their engine supplier Renault have started to make their 2017 preparations, Horner said neither party gave up on improving during this season as well.
“We still have a few bits that we can tidy up on the car which are on the pipeline, which were kicked off some time ago,” added the RBR exec. “There is still progress going on with the engine with drivability. There are some positive things in the pipeline which can hopefully help us to try and close that gap further.”
With Belgium and Italy coming up after the summer break (both high-speed circuits), Red Bull’s task of gaining ground on Mercedes might get off to a shaky start.