Red Bull sceptical, Lewis Hamilton confident ahead of Korean Grand Prix
Red Bull is unsure about its performance in the upcoming inaugural Korean Grand Prix as the layout of the circuit in the Far East will be an impediment to the performance of its cars. These views were expressed by none other than Red Bull’s boss, Christian
Horner, who sees long straight patches in Korea as a potential weakness for his team in the coming weekend.
Red Bull has consistently under-performed at high-speed circuits especially at Spa Francorchamps and Monza in Belgium and Italy respectively. Straight-line speed is vital for a quick lap and Red Bull has failed to post competitive times on tracks featuring
straight patches. The debutant Korean circuit features 3 straight patches which are present in the first sector and one of them is the longest in F1.
The rest of the two sectors are made up of fast corners which will boost Red Bull chances. However, Horner is sceptical about his team’s chances in the first sector. Red Bull’s boss said, “Korea is new for everybody, but looking at the track layout - with
the longest straight on the calendar - you'd have to say that's going to be tough for us because of the package we have. But sectors two and three have quite a lot of fast, flowing corners so hopefully they should suit our chassis strengths more.”
Nevertheless, Horner is still hopeful of his team’s performance in Korea. He believes that Red Bull’s hard work and homework will produce positive results for them. Red Bull will be heading to Korea with a confident position as its driver, Mark Webber leads
the championship table with 14 points ahead of team-mate, Sebastian Vettel and Ferrari's Fernando Alonso.
But, Horner isn't taking the competition easy and believes that title contention is still wide open. He added, “It's impossible to have a crystal ball. The drivers are split by 14 points, which is less than a third place finish, so under last year's point
system that is less than six points. It's impossible to predict how the next three races are going to go so it's not correct, as we've always said, for us to favour one driver over the other.”
Horner also brushed aside reports regarding his team’s inclination towards a particular driver. According to him, the team will support both the drivers equally as both have equal chances to win the championship. On the other hand, Lewis Hamilton has repudiated
the reports which say that his possibility of winning the title is over.
Hamilton is confident about his McLaren performing in the forthcoming Korean Grand Prix. The British driver’s car has underperformed in the last few races and is considered by pundits as incapable of steering former world champion to the title, this season.
Despite an update to the rear wing and the F-duct, his car has been well off pace in comparison to other cars.
Hamilton’s chances were dealt another blow when his car met an accident during a free practise but regardless of these setbacks, Hamilton is still hopeful that he will make an impact in the last 3 races of the F1 calendar. He stated, “I was pleased with
the pace we showed during the race. Jenson set the second-fastest lap, and, before my gearbox problem, I was closing down on Fernando [Alonso] and could even have made it onto the podium despite a five-place grid penalty. I think that gives us a lot of encouragement
for Korea and beyond.”
Hamilton is currently 27 points behind the championship leader, Mark Webber. But he isn't worried about his chances as situation can rapidly change in the upcoming races. He argued, “It's getting more difficult, I'm fully aware of that. But, in a situation
like this, I always look back at the 2007 season and what happened in those final two or three races. I think Kimi [Raikkonen] was 17 points behind with two races remaining, but he still managed to win the world championship.”
Tags: