Formula One will be heading to Russia in just six days’ time for the next round in this chaotic 2021 season.
The charging bulls have been performing incredibly well – aside from a few minor blips and penalties – as they continue to battle it out for the title against their Mercedes rivals
Looking ahead to the fight at Sochi on September 26, Team Principal, Christian Horner said “it has been a Mercedes stronghold” in the past and said this one will be a challenge.
“For me, Monza and Sochi, I’ve them marked down mentally as Mercedes circuits so it will be a challenge,” the team boss explained.
Aside from the difficulties thrown up by the circuit, Max Verstappen will also endure a penalty after it was decided by the stewards that the collision between himself and Lewis Hamilton at Monza was his fault.
“We have the grid penalty to take for Max too, but in Sochi it’s not such a handicap because of the strength of the tow down to Turn 1,” Horner explained.
“I was looking through the results at the Russian Grand Prix and back in 2018, Max went from last to first before needing to make his pit stop.
“We were second there last year but it’s a circuit we have never won at… I’m looking forward to it and seeing how we get on.”
In his column on the Red Bull website, Horner gave his opinion on their recent scuffle saying; “Both drivers knew they needed to be ahead because of the difficulty to overtake.
“Max was keen to seize the momentum and Lewis was eager to retain track position.
“It was an awkward shunt, but… I still share the same belief today – both played a part in it and it is difficult to apportion blame to one side more than the other,” he added.
“If the FIA wanted to make a statement, they could’ve imposed the same penalty on both drivers but the fault was deemed to be more on Max’s side and, because he didn’t finish the race, the only option was to give him a grid penalty, which we accept.”
