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Horner on Verstappen's undercut: "It took us slightly by surprise"
Christian Horner has explained why Red Bull Racing pitted Max Verstappen before then-race leader Sergio Perez. The team boss also highly praised Verstappen for his ninth straight victory in Formula 1, equalling former Red Bull driver Sebastian Vettel.
Undercut for Verstappen
The changing conditions made it difficult for the strategy team. As the track started to dry following the initial rain on lap one, Perez led the race. But it was Verstappen who pitted first for dry tyres and therefore made an undercut on his teammate. Perez questioned this on the radio. When speaking to Sky Sports, Horner explained the reasoning.
"A couple of reasons. One, we had Alonso take the slicks as well and Gasly behind. The pace of the undercut was strong. If we had pitted the other way around, we had the risk of coming out 1st and 4th. The risk was for Checo because Verstappen was catching seven seconds in three laps. His out-lap was so extreme it took us slightly by surprise that Max jumped Checo," Horner said.
Horner also remarked about the special day for Red Bull. Verstappen has now won the last nine races in Formula 1, equalling Vettel's record in 2013. Horner is proud to have achieved that twice.
"To match Seb's record, and the fact we've achieved that twice as a team is very special now. Verstappen did an amazing job. A great restart and we managed to close out the race. Disappointing we didn't have Checo up there with the five second penalty," Horner added.
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