Horner on rear wings in Saudi Arabia: "We've seen convergence on speeds"

Red Bull Racing had a mixed first day in Saudi Arabia. Max Verstappen spent time at the top of the leaderboard in both FP1 and FP2, but his rival for the World Championship Lewis Hamilton sat at the top when the chequered flag dropped in both sessions. Red Bull Racing boss Christian Horner is pleased with his team's work in Jeddah. 

Rear wings 

Over recent weeks, Mercedes and Red Bull have had battles on and off-track. In Brazil, the Mercedes rear wing came under the microscope and this resulted in a disqualification for Lewis Hamilton following qualifying for the Brazilian Grand Prix. Horner says this isn't a concern in Saudi Arabia following the new FIA tests. 

"After the new test was introduced, we've seen convergence on speeds. Similar speeds here today, so that's encouraging. Hopefully, that remains the case here and next weekend," Horner said in a conversation with Sky Sports. 

"You can see it's pretty tight [between Red Bull and Mercedes]. It's a challenging circuit, high speed with walls. It will be who gets the most out of the tyres, who get a clean lap and runs as close to the wall as they dare. So it's going to be a fascinating competition. Qualifying will be crucial like most street circuits and then anything can happen in the race itself." 

Tyres 

Pirelli have selected the three tyres in the middle of their range. Verstappen seemed stronger on the hard tyre and Horner explains how the soft tyre is more difficult to get into the working range. 

"We felt very strong on the hard tyre. The softer the compound, the more of a diva the tyre becomes to switch it on and to get the maximum out of it. They'll be a lot of analysis on that with out-laps and preparation. I don't think we were alone in that, there were others struggling to get the car in the right window but once you unlock that you can see there's performance there," he added. 

"This is max's kind of circuit with high speed, walls and kerbs. He was down to a time quicker than anyone else, he's enjoying it. Everyone in the team knows their role. The most important thing is to enjoy it. We've had a wonderful year, and finally, Mercedes have a competitor. It's like two cup finals now, we will do everything we can to come out on top," Horner said.