Christian Horner – ‘Reliability’ is key to success for 2011 season
The Red Bull team boss, Christian Horner believes that ‘reliability’ is the key to success for the 2011 season.
The 2011 grid is expected to be one of the most sensuous and exhilarating one in decades. For the first time in thirty years, five world champions will be seen together, fighting head-to-head at the highest ranking sport of the world. All the top drivers
including, the seven times world champion Michael Schumacher, the two times winner Fernando Alonso, the 2008 title victor Lewis Hamilton, the Brawn GP hero and 2009 champ Jenson Button and the world’s youngest world champion ever Sebastian Vettel, are all
equally adamant to add another title in their carts this season.
The reigning world champ, Vettel had a nerve-wrecking 2010 season. Despite having the fastest car of the season and coming up with great performances, he was not able to secure the championship before the last race of the season, the Abu Dhabi Grand prix.
The team had undoubtedly the swiftest car of the year, but at many instances the drivers’ mistake or cars’ reliability issues kept the team from bagging the championship, earlier than it did.
In the early part of the 2010 season, Red Bull lost victory twice owing to mechanical problems with their package. Later, at the final stage of the season, the team suffered retirement as the engine of Vettel’s car blew in Korea while he was close to a certain
race win.
While recalling the events of last season, Horner admitted that such technical issues this season can cost them the championship. He agrees that the next grid is going to be far more competitive than the last one with no room for error.
While talking to the media this Thursday he stated, "I think our reliability in 2010 was good, [although] obviously we had a couple of engine issues that I know Renault has worked hard to resolve. I think we were one of the most reliable teams on the chassis
side last year, but it's always important to try to achieve 100 per cent reliability, which is I'm sure the target of every team."
The previous season is largely considered as the most thrilling racing year ever witnessed in Formula One’s history. Each race brought along surprising events, adding dramatic twists and turns to the title battle. The season saw dominance in the charts shifting
positions as Red Bull, Ferrari and McLaren fought a three-way battle for the title.
However, Horner reckons that the upcoming season will be even more competitive than the last one. "Sitting here at this time of year, you can expect Ferrari and McLaren to be strong, Mercedes I'm sure will be looking for a better season and Renault finished
2010 pretty strongly. It's impossible to predict [the order] until we get to the first grand prix," he explained.
It is widely believed by the race experts that the Red Bull car will be once again the fastest team on the track. The previous two models of the team were the fastest in terms of space and again this year, the chief designer and one of the smartest brains
in the sport, Adrian Newey is busy building an unmatched machine for the team. The next car, RB7 will hit the track on February 1st, 2011, at the first pre-season test session, at Valencia.
The 37-year-old Austrian and the youngest team boss on the grids, Horner refrained from making any claims beforehand. However, he insisted that everyone in the team is focused, making up a winning combination. He further assured that both the team’s drivers,
Vettel and Mark Webber will return to the tracks with a new spirit and motivation, while the team will do all it can to ensure their success.
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