Horner sees advantage against Ferrari: 'They taxed their tyres more heavily'
F1 News
- GPblog.com
Different track, same story: at Red Bull Racing, Max Verstappen was the better of the two drivers, with Sergio Perez failing to make it to Q3 for the ninth time this season. Christian Horner, Red Bull's team boss, was (again) lenient on the Mexican.
At Sky Sports, Horner states that the moment Perez drove his second fast lap in Q2 killed him. "He went a little earlier. We only took three sets of tyres in the qualifying, and to try and avoid getting caught in the traffic on the last lap, he just did the lap a little earlier and just was a tenth short," Horner said.
Verstappen benefits from Sainz penalty
For his part, Max Verstappen saw pole go by the wayside. The world champion qualified third, but will start from second on Saturday night local time. He benefits from Carlos Sainz's grid penalty. Charles Leclerc, Sainz's teammate at Ferrari, was also faster than Verstappen. And that turned out to be expected, Horner confessed after qualifying.
"Not really," said the team boss when asked if beforehand it was expected by Red Bull to attack Ferrari. "Not really. I mean, yesterday Ferrari were very quick over a lap, but I think the characteristics of their car, they worked the tyre harder. We expected that, to be honest with you, so, well done to Charles, and it's going to make an interesting race tomorrow."
Max Verstappen is a master of tyre management. In previous races, after a relatively controlled opening phase, he proved he could get up to speed just after a few laps, get his tyres up to the right temperature and then take off in the distance. Whether the same will happen in Las Vegas, where it is particularly cold for an F1 car? "I think it'll be different here, but it's a track you can definitely overtake on, so it's going to make it interesting," Horner believes.
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