Christian Horner had not dared dream of dominance Verstappen
World Cup standings Formula 1
Max Verstappen and the Red Bull Racing team had a fine weekend. Before the race at Paul Ricard, Max had a “mere” 38-point lead over title rival Charles Leclerc. Thanks to his victory in France and Lerclerc ‘s third did-not-finish this year, the lead has been greatly increased. Max Verstappen has a lead of 63 points in the F1 championship among drivers and 82 points among constructors. Red Bull Racing boss Christian Horner still has a hard time believing it, he lets Motorsport.com know.
Horner: “Eight wins, two sprint victories and such a big lead in the championship. Had you told me before Christmas that we could achieve that with the biggest rule change in forty years AND with the energy we put into last year’s championship, it would have exceeded my wildest dreams.”
Milton Keynes
According to Horner, the hard work behind the scenes at Red Bull Racing’s F1 factory in Milton Keynes is being rewarded. “It’s really indicative of the determination, dedication and hard work behind the scenes at the factory. We see a very competitive Ferrari this year and we see Mercedes building momentum. But when you consider that we were the last team to put the focus entirely on this year, we did a phenomenal job.”
Tire Wear
According to Horner, the plan in France was for Max to make two pit stops, but because tire wear was not too bad, one stop was also sufficient.
“To be honest, the tire wear was less than we expected before the race. Before the race we were leaning towards two stops, but over the course of the race we were moving more and more towards one stop. On lap 16, we pulled the trigger because we saw a piece of free lane that we could get Max into.”
“Half a lap later he had the position on the track and from then on it was a matter of running the tires in nicely. Two laps after that Charles crashed and everyone got a free pit stop under that safety car. We were lucky to have just enough lead on both Mercedes cars.”
Photos: Red Bull Content Pool