Horner left confused by McLaren "Made their life complicated"

F1 News

Christian Horner on McLaren pitting Norris first
21 July at 20:00
7
  • Ben Stevens

Christian Horner is no stranger to watching his drivers battle at the front of the grid. However, for McLaren, this is the first time under Andrea Stella and Zak Brown that they are consistently fighting at the front. The Hungarian Grand Prix gave McLaren some problems, after they chose to pit Norris before Piastri, despite the Australian being the lead car. Horner gave his opinions on the situation. 

Horner: 'There is always a conflict'

Speaking to GPblog and others after the race in Hungary, Red Bull team principal Christian Horner believes that the Woking-based team didn't need to make their lives harder by pitting Norris before Piastri. "They didn't need to make life that complicated for themselves," Horner said.

"They were in a pretty comfortable situation. They chose to pit Lando two laps earlier. The usual practice, unless you want your tail car ahead, is to pit the lead car first. Then they gave themselves a lot of work to do to reset that at the back end of the race. Obviously, that's their business, but they perhaps didn't need to create that problem."

Horner also admitted that it's "the drivers' interests versus the team's interests. There's always a conflict."

Championship lead can 'diminish very quickly' 

Despite creating the problem for themselves, McLaren still leave Hungary with 43 points, compared to Red Bull's 16. When asked if McLaren consistently winning with both drivers would cause issues for the Austrian team, Horner admitted that their current lead cannot be taken for granted and more upgrades are needed. 

"We're just going to develop the fastest car we can. That's what we'll continue to do. In the Drivers' Championship, Max has a good lead, but that can diminish very quickly. So nothing can be taken for granted. The Constructors' Championship, [51 points] can diminish very quickly. So we're acutely aware of that. We are determined to make sure that we start having bigger points."