Red Bull rubbish unbeaten season talk after being 'on the ropes' in Monaco

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Red Bull boss Christian Horner has rubbished suggestions his team could go unbeaten in Formula 1 this season.

The reigning champions extended their 100% winning start to 2023 after Max Verstappen produced another brilliant performance in Monaco last Sunday.

That victory saw Red Bull clear perhaps the biggest hurdle to completing a perfect year, with the streets of Monte Carlo considered the least favourable circuit to the dominant RB19.

Even so, Horner still believes talk of winning all 22 races this season is premature.

"I don't think so. It's so early to predict that," he said via ESPN. "We got 16 races to go. There's a lot that can go wrong.

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"There's so much jeopardy as you saw today with the weather and there's so many factors that can go wrong and the competition is so strong anything can happen.

"So we're just taking one race at a time and we're six races into this championship.

"Max has driven brilliantly and Checo [Sergio Perez] had a weekend to forget here but has been in great form.

"We're going to see what the output is from the upgrades in Barcelona next weekend.

"It's impossible to judge here and you have to take your hat off to Fernando [Alonso] this weekend."

MONTE-CARLO, MONACO - MAY 28: Race winner Max Verstappen of the Netherlands and Oracle Red Bull Racing and Second placed Fernando Alonso of Spain and Aston Martin F1 Team celebrate in parc ferme during the F1 Grand Prix of Monaco at Circuit de Monaco on May 28, 2023 in Monte-Carlo, Monaco. (Photo by Mark Thompson/Getty Images) // Getty Images / Red Bull Content Pool // SI202305280368 // Usage for editorial use only //

Monaco was certainly the toughest victory for Red Bull so far, as Verstappen had to take maximum risk in qualifying to secure pole position.

Then in the race, Alonso was a constant threat before rain also threatened to derail the Dutchman's day.

“I think we were on the ropes here,” Horner added.

“We knew coming into this weekend this was going to be our biggest challenge in the first half of the year, and the low-speed nature playing to the strengths [of others].

“We actually thought Ferrari might be the main opponent, but Fernando has just been on fire all weekend. I mean, unbelievable.”

 

         

 

 

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