F1 : Horner expects tougher 2012

Christian Horner said that Red Bull will find it even harder to win titles next season as Ferrari, McLaren and Mercedes redouble their efforts.

Red Bull clinched back-to-back constructors' championships on Sunday with first and third at the Korean Grand Prix, ensuring the team has secured the 'double double' as Sebastian Vettel also took the drivers' championship in 2010 and 2011. Horner said that 2012 will be a bigger challenge for the team, believing that the consecutive titles will have "upset" its rivals.

"It never gets easier, that's for sure," Horner is quoted by Sporting Life. "It would be foolish to underestimate the likes of Ferrari, who are a phenomenal team with tremendous pedigree, or the likes of McLaren and Mercedes Benz. We are not foolish or arrogant enough to think that this kind of performance is normal. It's abnormal and takes a superhuman effort to try and achieve.

"We know our competitors are going to be pushing hard over the winter because to do what we've done once they could probably tolerate, but to do it twice probably upsets a little."

Red Bull's determination to make it a hat-trick of championships was evident in Korea by the absence of chief technical officer Adrian Newey as he continued working on next season's car, and Horner said the rest of the season will also be used as an extension of pre-season testing.

"Focus has started moving towards next year, with less than four months to design and build a completely new car. It's why Adrian elected not to attend this race, but is busy back in the UK focused on our RB8.

"The remaining races are the only track time we've got, other than a young driver test between now and when the new car is effectively born. So we'll look to learn everything we can out of the track time we have available, which means pushing right up to the chequered flag in the final race in Brazil."

( Source : en.espnf1.com/redbull/motorsport/story/61911.html )