Christian Horner was not surprised to hear of Mattia Binotto's departure from Ferrari and rubbished speculation he would leave Red Bull to fill the vacancy.
Ferrari announced last week that Binotto had handed in his resignation as team principal after a frustrating season, where the team fell short of their objectives despite a fine start to the campaign.
An error-strewn year saw Charles Leclerc lose a 46-point advantage over Max Verstappen and Red Bull, eventually finishing a distant second-place to the two-time world champion.
Ferrari's hunt for a successor to Binotto has seen Horner linked with a move across the paddock but he affirmed his commitment to Red Bull.
Asked whether he was surprised by Binotto's exit, Horner told Sky Sports: "Not really. It is obviously Ferrari's choice.
"I think it will be the sixth team principal I have sat opposite since I've been at Red Bull. Obviously, it's very difficult for him. They had a great car this year, they were very competitive.
"My commitment is very much with the Red Bull team. I've been there since the beginning and have a really close attachment."
Verstappen will be looking to hand Red Bull a third consecutive drivers' championship in 2023, as well as retaining the constructors' championship, but Horner expects a tougher fight when the season begins in March – predicting Mercedes to be back near the top.
"Both those guys [Lewis Hamilton and George Russell] had great seasons. George finishing ahead of Lewis in his first year with the team was an impressive performance but Lewis is obviously still right there," Horner added.
"You've got to assume they're going to come back fighting hard next year, Ferrari as well will be looking to make progress, so it's set to be a really tough season."
Red Bull will also have to cope with the penalty issued for breaching Formula One's budget cap, resulting in a reduction of time allowance in the wind tunnel.
However, with development of the 2023 car already well underway before the punishment was issued, it is expected that the biggest impact from the penalty will be felt in 2024.
Lewis Hamilton: Mercedes upgrade definitely not the step forward we hoped for
Lewis Hamilton has admitted that Mercedes’ upgrade is “definitely not the step forward” he was hoping for ahead of the Spanish Grand Prix.
The seven-time world champion said after May’s Miami Grand Prix he was “counting down the days” for the upgrade he hoped would propel him back to the front, and he was given his first taste of Mercedes’ revamped machine at last weekend’s Monaco Grand Prix.
Hamilton qualified sixth in Monte Carlo before making up two places in the rain-hit race. Team-mate George Russell finished one spot behind Hamilton in fifth, while Max Verstappen raced to his fourth win of the season.
The Monte Carlo layout has been among Mercedes’ worst tracks and Sunday’s race here at the Circuit de Catalunya on the outskirts of Barcelona is set to represent a truer reflection of the team’s outright speed.
But addressing Mercedes’ upgrade on the eve of the seventh round, Hamilton said: “It is definitely not the step forward that we were hoping for.
“The true step forward we were hoping for was to [overturn] a one-second delta [to Red Bull] in race trim, and we have not covered that with this step.
“When you bring upgrades, naturally you should be progressing forwards, and the fact is that it is an improvement, but it just not the improvement we had dreamed of.
“It is one step at a time. I don’t feel negative towards it, I am grateful we have it, and I understand how much work has gone into making these parts, the rush that has gone on, and the amount of flat-out work by the team.
“We are hugely hungry to move in the right direction so I would say that I am just hopeful that it puts us on a better track.
“We have taken account of where we are, where we have gone wrong, and now we are slowly chipping away and navigating our way back to the front but unfortunately it is just a long process.”
Hamilton finished 39 seconds behind Verstappen on Sunday as the Dutchman extended his championship lead over team-mate Sergio Perez to 39 points.
Red Bull have won 16 of the last 17 grands prix, with Verstappen firmly on course to secure his third world title in as many years.
And Verstappen said his team – which has dominated the sport since a major overhaul of the regulations at the beginning of last season – has the speed to win all 22 races.
“I would say at the moment, that we can,” said Verstappen. “But that’s very unlikely to happen.
“There are always things that go wrong, a retirement or whatever. But purely on pace at the moment we can.
“We have always seen dominant periods in Formula One and this is nothing new. If we look back at the 80s, the 90s, the 2000s, early 2010s to all the way until 2020, it’s pure dominance of certain teams.
“The longer you leave the regulations the same, the closer people will get. So maybe this is something we need to look at.”
Lewis Hamilton warned not to expect instant results from Mercedes upgrade
Toto Wolff has warned Lewis Hamilton that Mercedes’ upgrade is unlikely to provide a swift end to his losing streak.
Hamilton and team-mate George Russell were given their first taste of the team’s revamped machine in Monaco.
Hamilton and Russell qualified sixth and eighth, before making up two and three places respectively in Sunday’s rain-hit race following an early call to move from slick to wet rubber.
Traditionally, the Monte Carlo layout has been among Mercedes’ worst tracks with this weekend’s race at the Circuit de Catalunya in Barcelona set to represent a truer reflection of the team’s outright speed.
But Wolff believes he did not see enough progress from their upgraded car to suggest they will immediately move ahead of Aston Martin and Ferrari in the pecking order, or challenge Max Verstappen’s Red Bull team who have won all six races this year.
“We need to be careful,” said team principal Wolff. “We will collect more data in Barcelona, but I don’t expect us to clear Ferrari and Aston Martin there either.
“It is about understanding what does this car do now and how do we set it up?
“We are good at grinding away. Last year, the package was terrible at the beginning of the season, and we won a race in Interlagos [at the penultimate round] so we will get there.”
Hamilton finished 39 seconds behind Verstappen on Sunday as the Dutchman claimed his fourth victory in six races to extend his championship lead to 39 points.
Red Bull have now won 15 of the last 16 grands prix, with Verstappen, who grazed the wall en route to taking the chequered flag in Monte Carlo, remaining on course to race to his third world title in as many years.
Asked if Verstappen’s dominance is proving to be a turn-off for the sport, Wolff replied: “When you win in Formula One it is a meritocracy.
“They have done a good job and the car is fast in all conditions and the driver is at the top of his game.
“We need to do a better job, catch up, find intelligent solutions and hope our development slope is steeper than theirs, and eventually fight again.
“Whether it is good for the show or not, a strong fight between 10 drivers, or at least two, is obviously much better for all of us, but we have to accept it and work to get back there.
“The best driver in the best car spending the same money wins the championship, and if you break the rules you should be heavily penalised, but only then, and you should not be penalised for simply doing a good job.”
Fernando Alonso: Aston Martin ‘will not give up’ in push for F1 triumph
Fernando Alonso has not given up hope of defying the odds and beating Max Verstappen to the Formula One world championship after he finished second at Sunday’s Monaco Grand Prix.
Alonso took the chequered flag 27.9 seconds behind Verstappen and has now secured five podiums in six races following his transfer from Alpine to Aston Martin.
The 41-year-old Spaniard will head to his home race at Barcelona’s Circuit de Catalunya next weekend 51 points adrift of Verstappen and a dozen behind Sergio Perez in the other Red Bull.
“The championship is long and we will not give up,” said Alonso after he finished runner-up for the first time in nine years.
“Red Bull and Max are dominating every race. The Red Bull is untouchable and even with great results, we are behind them. We are relying on weekends where they have issues.
“If Max has one or two of those, then we will be a little bit closer in the championship.
“This is motorsport and anything can happen. On true pace we are not there yet, but we won’t give up.”
Alonso kept Verstappen honest throughout Sunday’s race and was holding out on old rubber in the hope that rain would arrive.
But when it did, Alonso stopped for drys believing the track would not be wet enough for intermediate tyres.
However, the downpour continued and the Spaniard was forced to come back into the pits on the next lap, scuppering any chance of claiming his first victory in a decade.
“Maybe it was extra safe but in that minute-and-a-half it took to go through Turns five, six and eight again, the track changed completely,” added Alonso.
“The lap we stopped was completely dry but on my out-lap from the pits, it was wet.
“There was a huge margin behind me to do two stops and we thought it was the right thing to do. It was a complex race to read and execute.”
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