Formula 1

Unpredictable 2017 season good for F1 so far, says Red Bull boss

Published May. 8, 2017 11:32 a.m. ET

Adam Cooper

Red Bull boss Christian Horner says that the early races of the 2017 have been good for the sport, even if his team hasn’t been involved with the fight for the lead.

Horner conceded that a maiden success for Valtteri Bottas in Russia was a boost.

“It’s great for F1,” he said. “That race came alive at the end there. It’s great to see a new winner in Valtteri Bottas, so congratulations to him, and an exciting finish to the Grand Prix. Out of the four races so far, there has been action and not a guaranteed winner in all four of them. Three winners in four races is a good ratio.”

Red Bull was way off the pace in Russia, with Max Verstappen finishing a distant fifth. However, Horner is adamant that the track did not favor the RB13, and that upgrades in Barcelona will make a difference.

“It’s very much circuit-specific. I think that was actually our best result here in Sochi, since we’ve been coming here in 2014. It’s a very power sensitive circuit and hopefully with what we’ve got coming for the next Grand Prix will help move our competitiveness forward.”

Verstappen meanwhile admitted that his race in Russia was so quiet he had time to watch the giant TV screens while driving round. He eventually finished 24 seconds behind Lewis Hamilton, and 26 seconds ahead of Sergio Perez.

“It was very lonely!” he joked. “I couldn’t see a car in front and behind, so just watching the screens and following up on the battle between Bottas and Vettel.

“I had to bring the car home, but in general there’s not much you can do. I was trying to be consistent, and I think the pace of the car in the race was actually not too bad, taking everything into consideration. So it was fine.”

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