Red Bull "thin" on spare parts after Albon crash
Red Bull Racing Formula 1 boss Christian Horner admits that the team is short of spare parts after a heavy accident for Alex Albon in second practice in Mexico on Friday.
Although the impact looked relatively benign, the team had to build up the spare chassis for the Thai driver overnight, which means it doesn't have a safety net this weekend should either of its drivers have a major incident on Saturday.
Horner says the turnover of different aero specs means that the team usually doesn't have many parts in stock.
"We are a bit thin on spare parts after Alex's little incident yesterday," Horner told Sky F1. "It's just normal, you don't stockpile parts because they get replaced and updated relatively often.
"The guys did a phenomenal job last night to change the chassis within the curfew, but obviously you don't want to have another one of those before qualifying or the race."
Albon has had several incidents in recent weeks, having also had major offs in Singapore and Russia.
He finished today's FP3 session in eighth place, 0.191s down on teammate Max Verstappen.
"I think he's given himself a bit of a hard time last night," said Horner. "He was poring over data until late in the evening, but it's a new day and a new opportunity."
Horner also reiterated his thoughts on the impressive performance of Ferrari on the straights.
"The Ferrari is just so fast on the straight, it was 0.89s quicker in a straight line yesterday with Sebastian [Vettel].
"The question is how much have they got left in the tank? We're quicker in all the corners, but it's the straight line that's doing all the damage. It's going to be fascinating to see what they've got for this afternoon.
"When you look at all the others, the Honda engine is now getting pretty close to the Mercedes, the Renault is pretty much there as well.
"The standout at the moment, the benchmark, is the Ferrari. It;s not just a little bit, it's whoppingly large, the difference. That's what we've got to try and make up in the corners."
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