Hamilton, according to Horner, is a threat: “He can still win this race”

Lewis Hamilton is still a contender for victory in Brazil, according to Christian Horner of Red Bull.

Despite beginning the race from 10th on the grid, Red Bull’s Christian Horner isn’t ruling out the possibility of Lewis Hamilton challenging for victory in Sunday’s Sao Paulo Grand Prix.

After being disqualified from Friday qualifying due to a rear wing penalty, Hamilton started the Sprint Qualifying race from 20th and last, but recovered impressively over the 24-lap race to finish fifth.

He will start Sunday’s race from 10th due to a separate grid penalty for an engine change prior to the weekend. Horner, however, believes he is still a serious contender for the title, based on his performance in the Sprint.

“On Lewis’ pace that he had [on Saturday], he can win this race,” Horner said.

“It’s very hard to defend against him with that kind of pace. We’ve got to get our head down, do the best job we can, and go from there. We can only control what we do, so we’re gonna go for it, and we’re on the front row.

“Degradation is going to be a big factor. You can never rule him out, particularly here [Interlagos]. If it was a street track, it’d be much harder, but here, anything’s possible.

“We’ve got to make sure that we focus on ourselves and convert the opportunities that we’ve got.”

Rear wings the centre of attention

With both Red Bull and Mercedes receiving stewards’ notice this weekend over rear wing concerns, Horner believes the competition between the two teams has pushed both teams to their engineering limits.

“If we weren’t pushing, we won’t be doing our job,” added Horner.

“It’s a competition, you’ve got to push in every area and we get it back, with interest, the other way.

“It shows Mercedes are on the limit, they’re being pushed this year. And that’s great, we’re enjoying it. It’s hard to get into this position, but we can only control what we do. We can’t control what others do.

“That’s why it’s very important that we just focus very much on ourselves.”

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