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Formula 1: Red Bull building back from Monza ‘low point’, says team boss Christian Horner

Max Verstappen’s stronger-than-expected results in Azerbaijan and Singapore have given the team confidence of another strong run-in

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Red Bull team principal and CEO Christian Horner says they are taking the Italian Grand Prix as the low point of the season, and “we’re starting to build out of that”. Photo: AFP

Formula One champions Red Bull hope to pick up the pace over the last six rounds of the season after Max Verstappen emerged stronger than expected from back-to-back street races in Azerbaijan and Singapore, team boss Christian Horner said.

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The triple world champion, who will be 27 next week, had his advantage over McLaren’s Lando Norris cut from 62 points after the Italian Grand Prix at Monza on September 1 to a current 52.

The season now has a four-week lull before a US-Mexico-Brazil sequence starting in Austin, Texas, on October 20, followed by another final triple-header of Las Vegas-Qatar-Abu Dhabi.

“I think we’ve got a vein of development and I think we’ve understood some of the issues with the car. I think we’re starting to address them,” Horner told reporters after Verstappen finished a distant second to Norris in Singapore.

“We were better in Baku, we were better here.”

Max Verstappen (left), talking to team principal Christian Horner, won all six of the final races last season. Photo: AP
Max Verstappen (left), talking to team principal Christian Horner, won all six of the final races last season. Photo: AP

Verstappen finished fifth in Baku after sixth at Monza, a result that equalled Monaco in May as his worst of the season so far – but it could have been far worse.

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