Horner: "It just seems to take forever those last 10-15 laps"

Although Red Bull Racing assured us prior to the Grand Prix at Imola that the RB18's reliability problems had been resolved, Christian Horner was indeed quite tense in the closing stages of the race. He admits as much in the F1 Nation Podcast.

"My foot was tapping more than Leclerc's helmet," said Horner, referring to the porpoising Leclerc suffered in Italy. "The problem with a race like that, the last 10-15 laps, you can only lose. The weather, there are reports of rain coming, all the reliability things start to come into your mind."

Verstappen and Perez stay off kerbs

The team boss of the Milton Keynes-based formation continued, "You can see it’s easy to put a wet wheel on a curb or something like that, so it just seems to take forever those last 10-15 laps, but there’s always a relief to see the chequered flag." It was the first time since 2016 that Red Bull managed to score another one-two in the premier class of motorsport.

Leclerc's mistake and Carlos Sainz's early retirement meant Red Bull did fantastic business in the battle for the world constructors' title. Although they have already recorded three DNFs, the difference with the Italians is only eleven points. Moreover, thanks to the updates in Imola, Red Bull now seems to be the superior party, so more one-twos may be on the way in 2022.