Red Bull team principal Christian Horner believes the two Safety Car periods that interrupted the Singapore Grand Prix denied his squad a shot at victory.
Lining up second, Daniel Ricciardo remained within striking range of Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel all along. But while the RB11 seemed to eke out more out of its Pirellis, the Australian could never mount a challenge with the race being neutralised twice during scheduled pit stop windows.
“I think we could have taken the fight a bit closer to Ferrari because our car was definitely softer on the tyre,” said Horner.
“We were more competitive at the end of the stint and at both of the end of the stints we had a Virtual Safety Car or a Safety Car. And that just gave Ferrari a bit of breathing space – a free pit stop effectively.
“We didn’t have the opportunity to either undercut them or put them under pressure at that point of the race. It would have been interesting to see how it would have panned out without the Safety Cars.”
Given Renault’s horsepower deficit, Red Bull decided to take strategic grid penalties at Monza two weeks ago in order to arrive at Singapore with fresh engines. Although pleased to see his team deliver under the floodlights, Horner now braces himself for more hardship with several power-sensitive tracks coming up next.
“We always knew Hungary and Singapore were going to be big opportunities for us and in both of those races we have finished second, unfortunately to a Ferrari.
“We have demonstrated quite clearly that the car is working very well. I think the circuits we have coming up, particularly Abu Dhabi, Sochi and probably Mexico, looking at the layouts, are going to be hard for us.
“Two weeks ago we were fighting a Sauber and this weekend we were fighting for pole position and a race win. It just demonstrates how the circuit layout affects the performance of the car.”
REPORT: Vettel takes third win as Hamilton retires in Singapore
AS IT HAPPENED: 2015 Singapore Grand Prix
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