Christian Horner believes it’s easy to overlook Max Verstappen’s performances amid Red Bull’s current period of success.
The Milton Keynes-based squad dominated the 2022 campaign, with Verstappen taking 15 of Red Bull’s 17 grand prix wins last year.
Its form at the season-opening Bahrain Grand Prix last weekend sent an ominous warning to its rivals as Red Bull cruised to a 1-2 finish.
Verstappen led team-mate Sergio Perez across the finish line, with Fernando Alonso capturing third for Aston Martin.
When asked if Verstappen’s performances were easy to miss amid Red Bull’s dominance, Horner said: “I think it’s easy to overlook that and just say what a good job the team have done over the winter.
“But people have a very short memory in this business and you’re as good as your last race. Today we’re heroes. Tomorrow it could be Ferrari, it could be Mercedes, it could be Aston Martin.
“So I think none of us are getting carried away with the result it’s the start of a marathon the surface at this track is quite unique.
“Let’s just wait and see what happens in Jeddah and Melbourne and some of the other circuits before drawing to any conclusions.”
Verstappen took pole position for the Bahrain event and cruised to the win, finishing almost 12 seconds in front of his team-mate.
The two-time champion’s strong display came after he endured a difficult day of practice.
“I think I already said before that the one lap performance to the race is very different in balance requirements anyway,” Verstappen said.
“So even like I said before, on Friday, I was unhappy with the one lap performance, my long runs were still okay, so not really surprised. I’m just, of course, happy that it worked out like this.”
However, the Dutchman is remaining cautious over Red Bull’s prospects, suggesting that the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix in one week could see a tougher challenge presented to it.
“Jeddah is going to be quite different again. Our car seems quite strong in high speed but I think Ferrari is quite quick on the straight which in Jeddah, of course, is very nice to have.
“But yeah, time will tell. It’s really hard to know. We’ve only really driven these cars here in Bahrain so we just have to wait and see.
“We’ll, of course, try and get there in the best shape possible and then we’ll find out throughout practice where we are exactly.”
