Photo Credits: Red Bull Racing
Red Bull Racing are dominating the 2023 F1 season. Team Principal Christian Horner spoke to print media in Miami after having seen Max Verstappen claim his third victory of the season and spoke of the statement his team’s performance makes.
Last Sunday’s Miami Grand Prix saw Red Bull Racing claim its fourth one-two of the season – during a season that has only had 5 Grands Prix so far. Horner described Max Verstappen’s 38th victory in the pinnacle of motorsport as “a big win”. Horner also revealed in his post race remarks how the outcome differed to the simulations and strategical discussions which had taken place beforehand. Verstappen’s win was all the more impressive as the Dutchman started Sunday’s spectacle from the fifth row of the grid in P9.
“It was a big win, to win in America for the second time here, to get our fifth victory, fourth one-two of the year, particularly from starting first and ninth on the grid was a huge performance,” said Horner.
“Checo starting on the mediums we felt that from a simulation point of view, the medium/hard was the quicker strategy. And hence why obviously he took that strategy for the race. Max was keen to run the alternative strategy, starting on the hard which, certainly in the simulation world, wasn’t quite as quick, but it benefited if there was a safety car in the latter part of the race,”
The Red Bull team boss also remarked as to how impressed he was that Verstappen never dropped more than 5.5 seconds behind pole-sitter Sergio Perez – even when in traffic.
“And on that first stint when Checo pitted I think he [Max Verstappen] was just over a second, a second and a half behind.
“And then the real crux of the race was Checo pitted on lap 20, the next 22 laps of Max on the hard tyre, because basically it was a race against the stopwatch. And on 20-lap older tyres that’s where he was truly impressive to match the lap time, sometimes better than lap times of what Checo was able to do, that was where he won the race.
“So when he did eventually pit with 12 laps to go onto the medium compound tyre he was within one and a half seconds when he left the pit lane. And then with the grip advantage he had, they obviously race hard, but fairly, but the damage had already been done through the middle part of the stint,” stated Horner.
Max Verstappen’s pace on old tyres was remarkable and ensured that he could pit at the optimum time knowing that he had the car beneath him to then pass Sergio Perez on track for the lead of the race.
However, with the benefit of hindsight, Christian Horner was asked whether he was surprised by the pace of Perez in the first stint. Had the Mexican racer pushed more then he may have edged out a greater gap over his teammate to begin with.
“The first 10 laps, he [Perez] was very much managing the pace. And I think he was nervous about the front right. And as we started to see other teams start to get a bit of graining I think he was driving well within himself and the car to protect that front right. And then he started to push after the first 10 laps and start to build a lead.
“I think probably with 20/20 hindsight, I think if you looked at the race again, he’d push harder in that, in that first stint, because the medium tyre actually turned out to be a very good tyre as we saw with Fernando [Alonso] actually going quite a long way,” explained Christian Horner.
Horner talked that the strategy put forward by Max Verstappen’s side of the garage had been discussed and all the pros and cons weighed up. His engineering team was keen to try it and Horner told media: “I was happy to sign it off and say if that’s what you want to do, then okay.”
If was an excellent decision as Max Verstappen’s drive in Miami was an outstanding one and for many fans was one of his best in F1. He demonstrated controlled aggression and excellent overtaking to become a deserved winner ahead of Sergio Perez. He calmly navigated traffic (though they did not put up much of a fight due to the pace superiority) and the Dutchman hit the headlines for his superb tyre management.
However, there’s still a long way to go in this 2023 F1 season and only 14 points between the two Red Bull Racing teammates. With 18 races to go and five sprint races remaining there is a lot that can still happen and thanks to the two drivers pushing each other – while other teams seem unable to do so – race fans have plenty to enjoy.
