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Horner expects team orders in Sprint: 'McLaren will definitely do that'
Red Bull Racing could not compete with McLaren in Sprint Qualifying at Interlagos. Max Verstappen finished in P4 on Friday, and Sergio Perez was already eliminated in SQ2. Christian Horner, Red Bull's team principal reacted to their result in Sao Paulo, and said he expects the McLaren drivers to swap positions following team orders in the Sprint. "For the sake of one point, I would think they would, for sure they will," he said.
Horner on Sprint Qualifying in Brazil
"McLaren were very fast in that, well, certainly all through the day, to be honest with you. I was surprised that Oscar got the pole. He hadn't looked the quicker of the two, but very good second lap for him," Horner began to Viaplay on Friday.
"So we're on the second row. You can still race him there. You can overtake at this track. So hopefully we're more biased towards the race than we are qualifying," addressed the Red Bull team principal. "They [McLaren] are very quick. Let's see tomorrow in the sprint race and then we can change the car for qualifying and the sessions come at you thick and fast."
While Verstappen could at least start the Sprint from the second row of the grid, Sergio Perez was once again eliminated early on in SQ2. The Mexican finished in P13, after he could not complete his second run in the session. According to Horner, the team did not plan to do a second run at all.
"We hadn't planned a second run and unfortunately he just hadn't done enough in the first run. We went for an optimal time, but unfortunately he was half a second above his teammate's time. That was just a bit too much," Horner addressed another early exit for 'Checo'.
This article was written in collaboration with Kada Sarkozi
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