Red Bull and Ferrari will be emulated by more F1 teams after triumphant 2022 season, predicts Christian Horner

Red Bull boss Christian Horner reckons both the Austrian team's and Ferrari's car designs could serve as inspiration for the rest of the grid.

The 2022 season was the first with new regulations, where both Ferrari and Red Bull set themselves apart from the rest of the field. Other than a pole position by Mercedes and another by Haas, every other pole position was secured by either Red Bull or Ferrari.

Other than George Russell's win in Brazil, every other race was won by either a Ferrari or Red Bull driver.

Talking to Channel 4, Horner said that the restrictive nature of the regulations is a handicap but expects other teams to modify their designs to close in on the top two teams. He said:

“It’s tough because it is a handicap. But I think what you’ll see in ’23 is that the cars do converge, and I’m sure there’s a few more cars that will look a bit like a Red Bull or a Ferrari. I think having got this number one on the car, having regained the Constructors’ World Championship is a huge motivation to maintain at that level.”

Looking back at the 2022 season, Horner said that even in his wildest dreams he did not expect Red Bull to dominate the way they did. He said:

“To be honest, I think it was beyond our wildest imaginations. With ’21 being such an intense year, Adrian (Newey’s) focus had really been on ’21 and the team beneath him had to do the groundwork on the 2022 car, so it felt like we were going to come into the season on the back foot.”

Red Bull won the driver and constructor titles last season, with Ferrari coming second in both categories.

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Red Bull hoping to overcome deficit imposed by cost cap penalty

Red Bull are looking at a reduced development time in 2023 because of the cost cap and wind tunnel time penalty received for a breach in the 2021 season.

Horner is confident that the team is capable enough to overcome that challenge and fight for the title once again. He said:

“Of course, it (cost cap penalty) will have an effect. It is constricting your development tools. It just means we will have to think smarter and be more selective in what we test and run, but we just need to adapt. What we have lost in wind tunnel time, we have gained in motivation, and I think that we have just got to get on with it, get our heads down and do the very best job that we can."

The 2023 season is going to be a true litmus test for the team, and it will be interesting to see how Red Bull compete in an uneven playing field.