Red Bull boss pours cold water on Mercedes' optimism after the team's first double podium at the 2023 F1 Spanish GP

Red Bull team CEO Christian Horner believes Mercedes are still far behind despite their upgraded car. The Milton Keynes team principal felt the gap between them and their Brackley rivals was still the same.

Speaking to the Italian edition of the Motorsport Network, Horner said:

“Surely Mercedes has taken a step forward. They've basically introduced a B version of their single-seater. So they must have used a significant portion of their development budget to do what they did. I think if I look at the gap at the end of the race it's very similar to what we had in Bahrain."

He added:

"All that is happening is that the order of values behind us is changing from race to race. Fernando was behind us last week, while Mercedes was the second force in Barcelona. It will be interesting to see how the situation develops over the next few races.”

Mercedes heavily upgraded their car at the Monaco and Spanish GPs but were unable to catch up to Red Bull. Despite their double podium in Spain, Horner believes the gap in terms of pace is the same as it was at the Bahrain GP.

Max Verstappen had won the Spanish GP with a lead of 24 seconds over Lewis Hamilton and approximately 35 seconds ahead of teammate Sergio Perez. The Milton Keynes team CEO believes that the Brackley team brought a B-spec version of the W14 but will be hurt by the budget cap to a large extent for development.

He felt Fernando Alonso was also close to them in Monaco, and Mercedes were second in Barcelona. The Briton remained unbothered by Mercedes’ resurgence in performance, as their own teams seem to be in a comfortable place in both championships.

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Red Bull team boss claims Max Verstappen continues to evolve as a driver

F1 Grand Prix of Spain

Christian Horner believes Max Verstappen continues to evolve as a driver and is focused on his own performance. While the Red Bull F1 team boss empathized with Mercedes, he also pointed out their own disappointments in the past, where they had not won a title from 2014 to 2021.

The Briton felt they have a good driver lineup, and their Dutch champion is only getting better by the day. Empathizing with Mercedes and looking at their own situation, the Red Bull F1 team CEO said:

“We spent 7 years trying to get back into a winning position and, you know, losing hurts. I think my team has been working very hard to reach today's position and I think the whole team as a unit, not just Max, but the whole team is performing at such a high level."

He added:

"We have a phenomenal car. We have two great drivers and Max who continues to evolve as a driver. He's getting more and more refined and the capability he has inside the car is really impressive."

He concluded:

"I don't pay much attention to other people's comments. I think what matters is the score at the end of the weekend. And, I have to say, this looks pretty good for us.”

The Red Bull team is currently leading the constructors championship by a margin of 135 points, while Max Verstappen leads the driver’s championship by a margin of 53 points.

Although Mercedes have climbed to second place in the constructors championship, they lead Aston Martin by a narrow margin of 18 points. Although Toto Wolff has shown optimism in his comments after the Spanish GP, Horner has refrained from commenting on them.