Red Bull team principal Christian Horner has praised a “solid start” to the season for his team at the F1 Australian GP, which saw reigning world champion Max Verstappen achieve a spot on the podium.
Verstappen managed to overtake Oscar Piastri for second position on the opening lap, but couldn’t quite reach Lando Norris, who led from pole early in the race. A mistake on lap 17 let the Aussie back through, and the McLarens pulled over 10s clear with a superior car and better tyre deg.
Horner said in his print media session: “Max made a good start, he got a little boxed in but then [made] a great move around the outside of Oscar [Piastri]. He was able to challenge Lando [Norris] a little initially, but I think we were just a little heavier on the tyre, particularly in the last sector so then that gap started to open. Oscar was able to get back past Max.
“It was interesting, though, because right at the end of the inters, [the pace] started to come back again and we started [being] very competitive again.
“At the pit stop, we went on to the mediums and I was somewhat surprised to see everybody going onto the hards on a damp track. We felt [the mediums] would give a better warm-up and so on.”
“A solid start to a marathon of a year”
As the rain started falling again, McLaren brought Norris in for intermediates after sliding off briefly, while Verstappen stayed out on a wet track with slick tyres – perhaps in hopes of a safety car being brought out due to Piastri’s spin into the grass.
With the rain becoming impossible to ignore, Verstappen pitted for intermediates, allowing Norris to retake the lead – though not by much.
“It very nearly paid off to get the overcut and get the lead but, in the end, when it all played out, [Max] managed to jump back up into second for what became an eight-lap shootout to the finish and he very nearly nicked it at the end there,” said Horner.
“So Lando looked like he tightened a little at the end of the race.”
After the final Safety Car, Verstappen put huge pressure on the Brit but just fell short. Andrea Stella revealed post-race Norris had floor damage, and a mistake at turn 6 allowed the four-time World Champion to get very close.
Horner continued: “He made a mistake at turn six, went half off the track. That gave Max a little bit of a run at a track that’s very difficult to overtake [on].
“And then at the next lap he got another run. So yeah, a very, very close finish to an exciting race. For us, I think it’s a very solid start to what’s going to be a marathon of a year.”
Perhaps with another lap, could Verstappen have caught Norris?
“You never know,” Horner said.
“They had enough fuel to do another five laps with all the safety cars. But you never know. The chequered flag is what it is. I thought, if [Max] got half a chance, he was just going to send it and I think Lando knew that as well.”
Taking chances as they looked to beat McLaren and Norris with Verstappen says Horner
When asked about Verstappen’s second pit stop, Horner stated Red Bull’s timing had been strategic, but ultimately hadn’t worked alongside the weather:
“That’s where you’re working with the driver. The first two sectors were quicker. The third sector was so much down at that point and we knew the rain wasn’t going to hang around for long, and if you could just bank that track position, it’s so valuable here because you just can’t overtake.
“So that’s what we were rolling the dice a little for. McLaren were super conservative. Both of their drivers had big moments.
“And it looked like it might just play out, but if the rain had veered off, then we could have been lucky.
“But congratulations to Lando, he drove a good race today in difficult conditions for all of the drivers.
“But we’ve taken a lot of encouragement out of that race and the pace we had at the end. The other teams, it was clear what the pecking order was today in terms of pace.”
When asked if Red Bull could have covered off McLaren by pitting Verstappen earlier, Horner was dismissive:
“He still would’ve been just behind. There’s no point that he actually managed to get [in front] and that’s why we were hoping if the weather just [cleared up] then that would’ve given us that position.
“That’s always a point in time that things can go very wrong very quickly. It’s a dynamic between the pit wall and the driver to make the call. What are we gonna do here? Is it too treacherous to continue or is the track quick enough?
“The time that you lose in sector three but you gain in sectors one and two so there’s an upside. That was always the dilemma with that.”
Lots to learn
McLaren’s tyre management strategy remains the talk of the paddock. When asked about where he thinks this advantage comes from, Horner said:
“I think it’s different to everybody. And what’s quite strange is that they enjoy great warm-up but also very low degradation. Usually one comes at the expense of the other, so certainly at this circuit they seem to have mastered that.”
