Horner: 'Remarkable turnaround' primes Red Bull for 2017

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It was only a little over a year ago that Red Bull was very much on the back foot. The four-time world championship winning team was in the doldrums, and acute problems securing an engine deal meant Red Bull might even be on the brink of pulling out of Formula One for good.

Given that starting point coming into the 2016 season, it's remarkable that Red Bull revived sufficiently to emerge as the strongest competition to the dominant Mercedes team, clinching the only two victories of the year that didn't go to the Silver Arrows.

"It’s remarkable," Red Bull team principal Christian Horner told F1i. "12 months ago we’d had a pretty horrible year and the prospects weren’t looking hugely encouraging.

"At different points there had been three different solutions going into the back of the car for this year,", "Horner added. "13 months ago they were installing a Honda into the back of it!

"It was a tough winter but everybody got their head down, focused on developing the car and produced a great chassis which was evident from very much the first test."

The resulting package was able to claim victories in Spain and Malaysia for Max Verstappen and Daniel Ricciardo respectively, and Horner believes that the success puts the team back in strong contention for next season which sees a major overhaul of the technical regulations.

"I think the exciting factor is that there is going to be a bit of a shake-up in 2017. The cars are going to look great, they’re going to test the drivers much more," commented Horner. "I think the braver drivers are going to be more rewarded.

"It gives the opportunity to balance things up a bit in terms of will it still be the same two silver cars on the front row and on the top steps of the podium," he said.

"It gives it the opportunity to shake that up a little bit," Horner added. "Formula One is set for a great year.”

F1i's Chris Medland sits down with Red Bull boss Christian Horner

2016 driver ratings: 12-1

2016 driver ratings: 24-13

2016 team-by-team review: Part one

2016 team-by-team review: Part two

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Andrew Lewin

Andrew first became a fan of Formula 1 during the time when Michael Schumacher and Damon Hill were stepping into the limelight after the era of Alain Prost, Nigel Mansell and Aryton Senna. He's been addicted ever since, and has been writing about the sport now for nearly a quarter of a century for a number of online news sites. He's also written professionally about GP2 (now Formula 2), GP3, IndyCar, World Rally Championship, MotoGP and NASCAR. In his other professional life, Andrew is a freelance writer, social media consultant, web developer/programmer, and digital specialist in the fields of accessibility, usability, IA, online communities and public sector procurement. He worked for many years in magazine production at Bauer Media, and for over a decade he was part of the digital media team at the UK government's communications department. Born and raised in Essex, Andrew currently lives and works in south-west London.