F1 News
Horner gutted: "Grid position on any street circuit is crucial"
Christian Horner is downbeat after qualifying for the Saudi Arabia Grand Prix. Max Verstappen was set to "pull something special out of the bag" with a fast lap in the final stage of qualifying but the Dutchman crashed. Red Bull Racing team boss says his driver has to put it behind him in the battle for the World Championship.
"Verstappen was purple in sector one and sector two. He was four-tenths up on Hamilton's best time before touching the wall on the final corner. Horner explains his feelings after the event," Horner told Sky Sports.
"That was looking like the lap of the year to be honest with you. It's a great shame, it locked the front into the last corner. Tried to keep the momentum, he saw on his dash that he was 0.4 seconds up. Unfortunately, he ran out of road. Pretty brutal. Verstappen is frustrated I'm sure. He knows what a lap it was. He needs to put that behind him now and he's still P3 anything can happen in the race. He didn't say too much, he said he touched the wall and that was that. It was a mighty mighty lap. We are on the backfoot here and that was pulling something special out of the bag."
Gearbox change?
The incident with the barrier could've broken Verstappen's gearbox. This would result in a five-place grid penalty for the current World Championship leader. Horner hopes this isn't the case but admits he doesn't yet know the state of the car. He knows it'll be difficult to overtake on the street circuit, but hopes for a couple of chances.
"Let's hope the gearbox isn't damaged and we'll go again tomorrow. Hopefully it's not a gearbox penalty, until we get it back we don't know. I think it's going to be hard to overtake. it'll be strategy and safety cars and reliability. We'll see. Grid position on any street circuit is crucial," Horner added.