What are the concerns facing Red Bull early in the season? Christian Horner answers

Red Bull team boss Christian Horner claims that he is concerned about his team's reliability in the early phase of the season. The Briton feels that reliability issues are never too far away despite their stellar form so far in 2023.

The Anglo-Austrian team is off to a dream start, having won all three races so far this year, with a 1-2 finish in two of them. Currently, no other teams are able to match the sheer dominance of the Bulls, with Max Verstappen leading the drivers' championship once again.

Despite their stellar form so far, Horner claims a reliability issue is never too far away given the unpredictable nature of the sport. When asked if the team has any concerns early in the season, the Red Bull boss told the Talking Bull podcast:

"There's always something. There's always reliability. You know, it's something that is never too far away with these cars. We've had some issues in the first race that we have to manage. We had a drive-shaft issue with Max in Saudi."

"Obviously, Checo had some issues in the buildup to qualifying in Australia. There's always little things that can disrupt your flow."

Former Red Bull driver slammed stewards at 2023 Australian GP

Former Red Bull driver David Coulthard has criticized the stewards for being excessively cautious and nervous during the 2023 Australian Grand Prix. According to him, this led to unnecessary red flags and disrupted the race at Albert Park.

During the race's final six laps, Max Verstappen held a nine-second lead while Lewis Hamilton was two seconds ahead of Fernando Alonso. However, Kevin Magnussen's car crashed into the wall with significant force at Turn 2, causing his right-rear tire to detach and debris to scatter across the track.

Although Race Control initially deployed the safety car, it was later upgraded to a red flag on lap 55, resulting in the drivers returning to the pit lane for the second of three red flag periods during the race.

Coulthard criticized the stewards' decision to use red flags on every occasion, believing that a safety car would have been sufficient to manage the situation. Speaking to Channel 4, the former Red Bull driver said:

“I think okay he hit the wall, he got a puncture, there’s a little bit of debris on the track but I just don’t see the red flag in that. It’s almost like… it’s a difficult job, let’s get it, the referee is always going to be in a difficult situation and in this case of course it’s the stewards and the race director."

He added:

"But it’s like they’re so nervous of making a wrong decision, they’re just taking the overcautious decision every time. A full safety car would have handled that in my opinion.”

With much of the season still remaining, it will be interesting to see the stewarding style in times to come.