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Aston Martin Key Figure Busts Christian Horner’s Mythical Excuse After Max Verstappen’s Crushing Defeat

Published 09/20/2023, 3:30 AM EDT

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The night finally came when the dominance of Max Verstappen and Red Bull ended and it was an eventful night in Singapore. The Red Bull behemoth finally fell, but it was mainly down to the Marina Bay Street Circuit rather than anyone else brilliance. Singapore Street Circuit proved a massive challenge for Verstappen and Co. despite the king of streets securing a win in 2022. Although this was a scenario Red Bull had already foreseen as Christian Horner‘s comments before the race, coupled with their outings on track, all pointed toward a disappointing outcome. However, this chink in the RBR’s armor still comes as a surprise to one key Aston Martin‘s personnel.

Aston Martin’s brand ambassador and former racer Pedro de la Rosa is perplexed by this anomaly in the Red Bull’s season. He believes, and we have all witnessed, that the RB19 tackles a street track brilliantly. So seeing even Verstappen struggle in the qualifying regardless of what Horner claimed confuses him and he expressed that in the latest F1 Nation podcast.

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Pedro de la Rosa said, “I have no idea because, at the end of the day, it’s (Marina Bay Street Circuit) not that different to Monaco in a way. I mean, it’s a street, maximum downforce. Even the asphalt was a bit better than what all the teams expected because of the resurfacing. So, not sure, don’t know.”

This statement completely contradicts Horner’s remarks before that race, where he highlights how the RB19 struggles on street circuits. “It’s a street circuit. It’s one of the toughest on the calendar. We saw last year how perilous it can be,” said Horner. He also admitted, “One day we’re going to get beaten” and made it a question of when and not if.

Christian Horner Left No Choice but to Rebel Against Red Bull’s Values to Get Lando Norris

However, if you had paid attention to some F1 experts before the race coupled with Helmut Marko‘s comments, Red Bull was always downplaying the invincible season, which is the only justification for Horner’s comments.

Before Max Verstappen was unable to keep the winning streak going, F1 experts called Red Bull’s strategy thanks to Helmut Marko’s honest remark

Unlike Horner, Helmut Marko does not like to mince his words or hide his expectations, which often gets him in trouble. This is exactly what he did ahead of the Singapore GP as well.

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The Austrian boss admitted the team can win all the races if they can squeeze out a win in Singapore as well. This was the complete opposite of what Horner had been trying to communicate. However, F1 expert Nate Saunders caught up to Marko’s comments and saw right through Red Bull’s game plan, which they obviously could not complete.

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Saunders said, “It’s actually interesting that he’s admitted that, Marko. Because Red Bull have been very clever about not playing that up, you know they’ve downplayed the unbeaten season as much as possible. Obviously, Marko is a bit of a loose cannon, it’s fair to say. So, I’m not sure if it’s something that Christian Horner would admit to this weekend.”

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WATCH THIS STORY: Max Verstappen’s Chaos Continues: Disqualified for Revenge, Triggers Chaos in Sim Race

For a moment, Red Bull made everyone wonder if they would ever be beaten. So we say if they made the world wonder, why not do it themselves?

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Written by:

Mahim Suhalka

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Mahim Suhalka is a senior F1 Author at EssentiallySports. Having written over 1500 articles, Mahim specializes in core sports coverage. Having followed the sport for a long time, his articles contain excellent analysis of the sport and he dives deeper into the technicalities of this complex sport.
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Edited by:

Akash Pandhare