Horner calls on Red Bull to ‘understand weaknesses’ after challenging Monaco GP weekend

Christian Horner has admitted that there will be plenty of analysis and learning at Red Bull following the Monaco Grand Prix, with the team struggling for performance throughout the weekend.

Red Bull were knocked off their perch around the tight, twisty Monte Carlo venue, where drivers Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez lacked confidence amid the RB20’s difficulties riding the kerbs and bumps.

READ MORE: Verstappen reflects on lowly P6 finish in Monaco GP as he takes one ‘positive’ from painful weekend

Indeed, after winning five of the previous seven races held this season, Verstappen could qualify and finish only sixth in the Principality, behind the Ferrari drivers, the two McLarens and George Russell’s Mercedes.

Following on from similar struggles at last year’s Singapore Grand Prix, Red Bull team boss Horner pointed to the “huge amount of data” the Milton Keynes outfit can now dig through and learn from.

“Obviously this race is won on a Saturday and that’s where we had a poor day,” Horner reflected in his post-race media duties. “We need to understand that, understand what the issues were with the ride and the kerbs.”

He continued: “We saw [the same weakness] in Singapore last year as well, so we’ve had another example of that. We know it’s an area of the car we need to work on.

“It was a very static race, the top 10 finished where they started from, the red flag effectively killed the race because everybody was going to run to the end of the race, so we have some lessons to take out of this weekend and learn from obviously.”

READ MORE: 6 Winners and 5 Losers from Monaco – Leclerc hit the jackpot, but who else played their cards right in Monte Carlo?

Asked about Red Bull’s chances at the next round of the season in Canada, while Horner noted it is a Grand Prix the team have performed well at in recent years, he is wary of similar bumps and kerbs around the Montreal venue, in addition to a new track surface.

Beyond that, Horner is hopeful Red Bull’s current car will come into its own again during the triple-header sequence at the more flowing Barcelona, Red Bull Ring and Silverstone circuits.

“Look, we don’t take anything for granted, but we expect those tracks to suit the car,” he said. “The car has won five races and [scored] a second place in Miami and won two Sprint races, so it isn’t like this car has gone from being a good car to a bad car.

“This circuit [Monaco] hasn’t played to our strengths, and we need to understand what are those weaknesses and how do we address them.”

Nonetheless, Horner also suggested Red Bull’s upgrade plan for the remainder of the season could be adapted in an attempt to get on top of the RB20’s problems and make it more of an all-rounder.

READ MORE: Perez, Magnussen and Hulkenberg share contrasting views on start pile-up in Monaco

“I think it’s a continual process once you are into the law of diminishing returns, and of course your focus changes depending on what your weaknesses are,” he added.

“The [RB] car is running with our suspension from last year and doesn’t seem to have these issues, so we need to understand is it something we have introduced.”

With Sergio Perez failing to score in Monaco after a first-lap incident, Red Bull’s constructors’ lead over Ferrari – who took first and third with Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz – has been cut to 24 points.