© Getty ImagesChristian's Column: Signing On For MoreBefore travelling to Belgium, Team Principal Christian Horner talks through our 175th Team podium, signing the new Concorde Agreement and the secret to perfect pit stops.
That Makes 175 Podiums For The Team© Getty Images
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Max's second place finish in Spain was another great drive and once again splitting the two Mercedes cars was the maximum we could achieve in that race.
That said, it was encouraging that we came out of the second triple header with a win and two second place finishes.
Max's podium in Barcelona made it 175 for the Team and I have been present for all of them!
I certainly remember the first because David Coulthard achieved that podium in Monaco and it cost me a jump into a swimming pool with just a Superman cape to wear!
Monaco 2006 - Making a splash© Getty Images for Red Bull Racing
I don't think I will be forgetting that one in a hurry, and of course, we have every single trophy in reception at the factory as a daily reminder of why we are all here.
So, Monaco 2006 was the first one but we actually came very close in our first year, in 2005, to achieving it at the European Grand Prix held at the Nürburgring.
David was leaving the pit lane and a Minardi pulled out alongside him. He just released the pit limiter a fraction too early and it cost him a penalty, otherwise that would have been a podium.
But 175 is quite a tally. Particularly because in its previous incarnation, the Team only had two podiums. So since Red Bull entered the sport in 2005, to achieve 175 podiums is testimony to all the hard work that has been put in.
There are some great memories and although we take the opportunity to celebrate every podium the focus is always on the next race, not the last one.
Looking Down On Max's Pit Stop© Getty Images
A key aspect of the race in Spain was the Team once again setting the record for the fastest pit stop.
This year the crew have set the fastest pit stop time at each of the six races and it means strategically you come to rely on your pit crew to make a quick stop.
What is the secret? It is a combination of factors starting with our Sporting Director, Jonathan Wheatley and Chief Mechanic, Phil Turner plus the training regime that our human performance team put in place and the stability we have in our Team.
There is a real pride in perfecting those pit stops. Everyone wants to be on that pit crew and there is a healthy competition for those places.
It is a bit like being at school and being selected for the first team. There is a sense of pride to be part of that list.
It is all about focusing on the details, practising, working on marginal gains and addressing any issues in order to achieve consistency because there is no point doing a world record stop and then doing five slower stops. We run a well-oiled machine and we also had a little bit of a boost this year from our lubricant partner ExxonMobil who supplied us with a new wheel gun lubricant to further increase our performance.
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Last week, it was confirmed that all 10 teams signed the new Concorde Agreement.
Negotiations were lengthy, especially given the global challenges facing the sport but in some respects they were also remarkably straightforward in comparison with previous years. Negotiating with Bernie Ecclestone in the past was always good fun, always a bit different, but Liberty were scrupulously fair with the negotiations and we were in fact the first team to sign it in Barcelona.
You have to take a holistic view on these things. That is what the agreement was, that is what Chase Carey and Liberty were putting on the table and it was up to the teams if they chose to take it or leave it. There was of course back and forth on certain points and there are elements that please some teams more than others, but in the end everyone came to agree on the best way forward for the good of the sport.
Cars Line Up On The Silverstone Starting Grid© Vladimir Rys
It is an important agreement for F1 and although the details are confidential, it provides stability and continuity for the future so we are pleased to get it over the line.
Liberty have definitely achieved some good things for the sport in terms of opening it up and generating interest from a new fan base which can only be a positive. The most important challenge now is getting the 2022 regulations right to promote better racing.
With Sunday spent away from the racetrack, after enjoying a day with the family I put my feet up at home and decided to watch the Indy 500.
It was all shaping up for an exciting finish and then there was a huge crash when Spencer Pigot hit the edge of the pit wall.
It was a relief to everyone to see Spencer out of the car and I was pleased to see that the Aeroscreen once again did its job and protected him. It is a great testimony to the work carried out by the engineers at Red Bull Advanced Technologies in conjunction with IndyCar. We are all racers at heart and are proud to be part of the campaign to protect drivers and increase safety in motorsport.
The result was also a huge success for Honda, so congratulations to them for achieving a podium lockout and win the 104th Indy 500 with Takuma Sato. Hopefully, we can replicate that in some of our future races.
Max And Takuma Sato Walk Towards The Camera© Kunihisa Kobayashi
Our focus now switches to Spa and then Monza - two weekends that are traditionally quite hard races for us.
Both tracks have been a strong hunting ground for Mercedes for a few years but the way Max is driving this season has been phenomenal. We need a bit of luck but hopefully we can have a competitive weekend in Spa.
For Alex, this marks his one year anniversary with the Team and he has changed a lot in 12 months.
He is growing in experience and more confident with his feedback in what he feels the car is doing.
If you look at his race performances for the past 12 months, they have been great and he impresses us every week with his ballsy overtakes, that is something we have always looked for in our drivers and he certainly has what it takes.
Lewis has been his nemesis in terms of a podium in Brazil and even a victory in Austria in the first race this year and to get one of these under his belt would have done wonders for his confidence.
