Horner tells Verstappen to target Norris early: 'P2 is no disadvantage'

Horner satisfied with Verstappen and Perez

First of all, Horner stressed how small the difference to the pole time was actually now. "We matched the time (of George Russell) in Montreal, and we missed out by two-hundredths of a second here, but a great performance by Max and the team. I think we've done some good work overnight. We've improved the car and starting on the front row is a fantastic place," he began, speaking to Viaplay.

Asked about the chances against polesitter Lando Norris at the start, Horner replies, "It's one of the longest runs down to Turn 1 of the year. So, second place isn't necessarily a disadvantage here. There's some chance of rain as well we're seeing on the forecast, particularly tomorrow morning. So it could be another really, really exciting race. But I don't think this race is just going to be about the start. It's going to be other tyres and the degradation and the left-hand side tyres, and how they survive."

Perez did not get beyond eighth place in qualifying. Horner stresses that that is an improvement on the string of poor qualifying results the Mexican has had: "He's made it through the Q3, which is good progress, but just missing on that last set of tyres. But he takes a three-place penalty, unfortunately, because of Montreal. But he can score good points from there. And that's what we need from him tomorrow."

This article was written in collaboration with Olly Darcy