Red Bull team principal Christian Horner has praised McLaren's recent form, labelling team papaya as their "most consistent challenger” in Formula 1.
McLaren have made significant progress in 2023, with Lando Norris regularly fighting for a spot on the podium since they introduced their upgraded car at the Austrian Grand Prix, and Oscar Piastri recently joining his teammate as a top-three contender.
Earlier in the season, Aston Martin and Fernando Alonso led the charge behind the bulls. But ahead of the final leg of the 2023 campaign that will kick off next weekend in Austin, Horner reckons that McLaren – thanks to its remarkable resurgence over the summer – is now Red Bull’s biggest threat.
"It's moved around over the last four or five races but they've become certainly more consistent, the most consistent challenger,” Horner asserted.
"They're doing a good job and the drivers are driving well. Particularly Oscar, in his rookie season is doing a very strong job."
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McLaren’s strong run of form has allowed the Woking-based outfit to reduce its gap to fourth-placed team Aston in F1’s Constructors’ standings to just 11 points.
However, in Qatar last time out, McLaren F1 boss Andrea Stella was cautious regarding his team’s ability to seize fourth in the championship, pointing to the unexpected problems suffered by Mercedes and Ferrari at Lusail, with Lewis Hamilton retiring on the opening lap Carlos Sainz failing to even start the race.
“We stay very, very grounded,” said the Italian.
“We saw how marginal things are. We saw what happened with Mercedes, like what happened with Ferrari who didn’t even start.”
“This is not because they are not great teams with great drivers, this is because the sport is very marginal.
“The best thing you can do is just stay focussed, humble and keep delivering. And then, like I say, we will see in Abu Dhabi.”
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