Christian Horner identifies key area McLaren have stolen march over Red Bull

Christian Horner believes the front wing is a “key area” where Red Bull’s rivals have found some performance in recent months.

Red Bull suffered their worst defeat in some time with Lando Norris dominating the Dutch Grand Prix by over 20 seconds.

Sunday’s result means their position at the constructors’ championship is under serious threat with their lead now just 30 points over McLaren.

Max Verstappen struggled with the handling of the RB20, reporting that he couldn’t turn the car in a number of corners as he secured second ahead of Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc.

One key area of discussion this year has been around the front wing.

The FIA clamped down on flexible front wings at the Belgian Grand Prix with stricter video checks following suggestions Mercedes were potentially exploiting this area.

Speaking to media including Crash.net at Zandvoort on Sunday, Horner identified the front wing as one area McLaren and Mercedes have found performance.

“I think it’s more where have the others found performance. I think front wing is a key area where others have found some performance,” he said.

“I think that the way the front wings are being used are quite different. If you look at the front wing angle of McLaren and Mercedes, they’re very, very different. Very different to that rest of the grid.”

Horner is adamant that McLaren are now the “benchmark” now and that there’s no “silver bullets” for Red Bull to get over their current plight.

He added: “No, McLaren are setting the benchmark now. That’s clear in terms of pace. They’ve been that the last couple of races. Certainly in Hungary they were very competitive. Spa it was Mercedes. Here, Lando in particular was very, very strong. 

“Definitely they have the fastest car at the moment. We have to respond to that. It’s not rocket science, there’s no silver bullets in this business, it’s a matter of understanding the problem, addressing the problem and then implementing fixes to it.”