Red Bull team principal Christian Horner has said that it was unfair for James Vowles to have to apologize to Lewis Hamilton during the Austrian Grand Prix to calm him down.
Vowles, the main strategist at Mercedes, made a big mistake last weekend during the race, as he opted for Lewis Hamilton to stay out during the Virtual Safety Car, while the rest of the field came in for a change of tyres. Hamilton lost about eight seconds, and had Verstappen, the eventual race winner, behind him on fresh tyres and well within his pit window.
Vowles then came on the team radio to apologize to Hamilton and encourage him to keep his head down and get as many points as he could. To no avail though, as the Brit's car eventually gave up on him and he went home with no points.
“It’s always difficult to know the intricacies of other teams but I think the one thing you have to do as a team is win as a team and lose as a team,” Horner told Motorsport.com from the Red Bull factory.
“That’s why we hardly at all, in success or failure, talk about individuals, because that puts an unfair amount of scrutiny and pressure on that individual.
“I have never worked with Lewis and I don’t know what makes him tick and what doesn't, but it a fairly bizarre thing to need to do for somebody to throw themselves under the bus to motivate a driver to go faster from fourth back into the lead.
"My view and my role as team principal of this team is that you’re here to protect your workforce to make sure they’re represented in the best possible way – that’s on the good days and on the bad days.”
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