Verstappen had sights set on Norris: "I think Lando knew that too"
Red Bull Content Pool
F1 News
If the Australian Grand Prix is anything to go by, the 2025 Formula 1 season will keep fans everywhere very entertained and on the edge of their seats. The Australian Grand Prix was marked by extreme weather, crashes and bold strategic decisions. One of those bold decisions was made by Red Bull Racing, which allowed Max Verstappen to continue for two laps on slicks when many drivers had already changed theirs. Red Bull Racing team principal Christian Horner explains.
Horner explains Verstappen's risky strategy
After the F1 race at Albert Park, Horner sat down in the Red Bull Racing hospitality area to discuss the race with the media present. As usual, the team boss kept his papers with telemetry at hand, occasionally pointing out striking features in the lap times. In doing so, he clarified the complexity of the choices made during the race.
GPblog asked about the decision to let Verstappen stay out on track instead of pitting when it appeared that the stranded Oscar Piastri was able to continue his way after all, the 51-year-old replied with a thoughtful look: "That’s where you're working with the driver. The first two sectors were quicker, but in the third sector we were losing so much time. We knew the rain wasn’t going to hang around for long and track position is so valuable here because you just can’t overtake," he explained, pointing to the time differences on his papers.
"So, we were rolling the dice a little. McLaren was super conservative, you know, both of their drivers had big moments. It might have just played out if the rain had veered off,” he adds. "That’s always the point in time where things can go very wrong very quickly. It’s the dynamic between the pit wall and the driver to make the call: What are we going to do here? Is it too treacherous to continue, or is the track quick enough that you lose in sector three but gain in sectors one and two? That was always the dilemma.”
Could Verstappen have won with one extra lap?
When asked if he thought Verstappen could have won with an extra lap, he said, "You never know. They had enough fuel to do another five laps with all the safety cars. You never know, the checkered flag is what it is. I thought if Max got even half a chance, he was just going to send it and I think Lando knew that as well.”
Verstappen, however, did answer whether or not he would have been able to win with an extra lap. “I just tried my best, tried to be close, tried to put a bit of pressure on, but it's very hard to pass around here. There was only one line. Even if I had gotten a run into whatever, Turn 9, you have to go onto the wet part, so you can't really do a lot. But at least it was close. It looked good on TV.”
This article was written in collaboration with Savannah Lenz.
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