Christian Horner rubs Lewis Hamilton's problems in his face with Williams comments
Christian Horner has piled the pressure on Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes.
Christian Horner has rubbed salt in the wounds of Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes after claiming that Williams are ‘in the mix’ at the British Grand Prix. The Red Bull team principal praised Jenson Button for his work as an advisor to Williams after an impressive qualifying session for the team.
Williams star Alex Albon was third-fastest in practice on Friday, finishing behind only Max Verstappen and Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz. Logan Sargeant was in fifth behind Red Bull ace Sergio Perez.
It was a far more difficult day for Mercedes, though. Hamilton finished a lowly 15th in the Friday practice session, while Silver Arrows team-mate George Russell was 12.
And Horner has placed further pressure on the shoulders of Mercedes’ stars after insisting there is another team ‘in the mix’. The 49-year-old has been impressed by Williams this weekend.
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Speaking to Sky pundit and Williams advisor Button, he said: "It's super impressive. Not only Alex [Albon], but both the guys [including Sargeant] were in good shape.
“I don't know what you (Button) did because it's not only their speed in the qualifying run, but also in terms of racing pace. They’re in the mix.”
Horner and Red Bull had a good day of their own, with Verstappen by far the fastest. The Dutchman’s colleague, Sergio Perez was in fourth.
"It's been a positive day,” Horner said. “The tyres are new here, they're a little bit different too, so we just got to understand them. We could see that there was quite a bit of degradation, especially on the softer tires. All drivers suffered from it," Horner said.
"That could become an interesting factor for Sunday. Especially if the temperature is also different."
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Mercedes star Hamilton will be desperate to win his first Grand Prix since 2021 at Silverstone. Performance issues have plagued the Briton over the last two years, but the 38-year-old has been in good form of late.
He finished second and third, respectively, at the Spanish and Canadian Grands Prix, An eight-placed finish in Austria last weekend is unlikely to deter Hamilton from finally ending his Grand Prix drought this weekend.
"Winning the British Grand Prix is the best thing ever," Hamilton told Sky. “When you do get your first win you never think down the line you're going to have eight British Grand Prix wins. Those are figures and numbers and statistics you could only ever dream of."