Red Bull team principal Christian Horner acknowledged the team’s focus on its successful 2021 campaign may have allowed their rivals to gain ground on them ahead of the new season.
Formula 1 has introduced sweeping new technical regulations for 2022. Red Bull were involved in a close championship fight with rivals Mercedes, which wasn’t decided until the final race of last year.
While the title contenders continued to develop their cars through much of last season, other teams prioritised their 2022 projects from the outset. Speaking at the presentation of their new car for 2022, Horner said he is aware their rivals may have exploited this opportunity to catch up.
“We’re aiming very much to build on what we achieved last year, so the target is to try and obviously retain the title,” he said at the team’s presentation of its new car.
“The big unknown is, have we missed something with these regulations? Has another team stolen a march because of the focus and effort that…