Christian Horner the team boss has spoken out about the error that cost Perez a P2 finish, stating that it will be investigated.
Follow Us
Christian Horner has stated that Red Bull will look into a mechanics error that unintentionally helped Lewis Hamilton finish P2 at the Mexican Grand Prix. Fourth on the starting grid for his home race, Sergio Perez was unable to overtake teammate Max Verstappen for second place due to an unusually slow pit stop. Perez’s second pit stop took 5.3 seconds, which was crucial in preventing “Checo” from overtaking Hamilton’s Mercedes, which had only made one pit stop.
Red Bull’s attempt to press Hamilton, who was using the slower hard compounds, after switching Perez to the medium tyres ultimately failed. And despite Verstappen’s commanding victory, Mercedes, Red Bull’s main competition, made progress in the race as George Russell, Hamilton’s teammate, finished fourth.
Christian Horner the team boss has spoken out about the error that cost Perez a P2 finish, stating that it will be investigated in the Red Bull camp before the season’s penultimate race in Brazil. “I think without the issue of the pitstop, I think Checo [Perez] would have got the jump on Lewis. We need to investigate what caused that. It looks like the nut actually stuck, or it wouldn’t undo cleanly.” Expressed Horner.
“But it was a great recovery from him. Again, very strong pace, but just not quite enough to be able to make the pass on Lewis. Unfortunately, he was 0.03 of a second off [Hamilton] when he wanted to get the DRS, and so he just wasn’t quite within range.” Added Horner.
Read more: F1 is going to abandon its strategy to reduce tyre blanket temperatures in 2023.
After world champion Verstappen experienced a delayed stop at the US Grand Prix, Red Bull, a team that is typically faultless in the pit lane, has now made two errors in a row. That particular time, Hamilton lacked the speed to take advantage, and the Dutchman displayed the true dominance Red Bull possesses to rally and surpass his 2021 rival. In the meantime, Horner acknowledged that the Silver Arrow team’s use of tyres caught him off guard and that he believes it has cost them the opportunity to win the last two races.
“We were quite surprised Mercedes went as conservative as they did with the medium/hard strategy. I think we still had the edge but they would have been a lot closer. If you hear their drivers, they’re not very happy about the hard tyre. That’s the second weekend in a row they’ve put that tyre on and it’s cost them a victory. I was quite surprised at that.” Said the Red Bull Team Principal after the Mexican GP.
