Red Bull’s Christian Horner applauds 2022 regulation changes which fostered “25% more passes”

Red Bull Racing Team Principal Christian Horner praised 2022’s extensive regulation update, which not only saw the team achieve great success with a double championship, but also allowed for more overtaking opportunities and on-track battles. 

According to PlanetF1.com, Horner said that the technical regulations led to an increase in passing by about twenty-five percent, with aerodynamic changes allowing drivers to follow competitors more closely than before, when dirty air produced by the complex aerodynamic features of the car ahead would disrupt their ability to challenge for position. 

“From a personal point of view, it’s been an amazing season for our team. And I think for Formula 1, I think the racing has been better.

“I think that there’s been 25% more passes this year than previous years, I think the regulations are delivering in enabling the drivers to follow more closely.”

Horner said that Red Bull made the most of the technical regulations in spite of the fact that they were on the back foot development-wise, after putting their efforts into securing the 2021 driver’s championship with Max Verstappen.  

“I think that as a team we got these regulations right, which considering we were the last team to transition onto them, after you know what happened last year [2021], I think our team has done an amazing job in coming out with such a competitive car and bouncing back after a double DNF in Bahrain. We never lost sight of what our target was.”

Horner touched on the Red Bull’s battle with Scuderia Ferrari at the beginning of the season after the reliability difficulties they faced in the first rounds, and how the team was able to gain momentum after their stellar result at the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix. 

“By the time we got to Imola, winning the sprint and the Grand Prix with our first one-two of the year, that was able to then put the pressure back onto Ferrari and it didn’t give them any breathing space.”

Ultimately, Horner attributed the team’s ability to outperform Ferrari to Verstappen’s “sensational” performance and consistency week after week, as well as the gains they made in developing RB18 throughout the season. 

“We just kept efficiently developing the car, managing to lose a little bit of weight and Max has just been in sensational form this year.

“You think back to some of the races that were so tight in the early races with Ferrari. You think of Miami, you think of the races in Saudi, even in Bahrain. It’s been an incredible, incredible season for us.”