Christian Horner says it was “normal” for Sergio Perez to raise concerns about Max Verstappen’s pace towards the end of the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.
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Leader Perez and Red Bull teammate Verstappen pushed hard on the final lap of the Jeddah race and the Mexican managed to maintain a gap.
However, Verstappen heard strange noises, so the team looked at the data for signs of a possible repeat of Verstappen’s driveshaft failure in qualifying, and Perez worried about a long brake pedal. was
Told to slow down, Perez wanted to know if Verstappen was doing the same.
Ultimately, when it became clear that Verstappen would not be able to keep up with Perez, the team allowed both drivers to continue pushing before managing the pace again.
However, Verstappen managed to score the fastest lap points from his team-mate towards the end of the race.
“When we got to the last five laps it was clear that Max couldn’t catch us, but they got out of there and made it to the lap time,” said Horner.
“I think my biggest concern during the Grand Prix was when Max radioed that he heard a high-speed, high-pitched noise with about 15 laps to go. .yesterday.
“But when I checked all the data here, it confirmed all the data they could see at Milton Keynes. All the parameters looked fine. And obviously they moved forward again.”
Sergio Perez, Red Bull Racing RB19
Photo credit: Mark Sutton / motorsport images
Regarding the request from the pitwall for Perez to lap “target plus 0.4s”, Horner said: of the margin. ”
At that stage, Perez asked if Verstappen was doing the same, adding that drivers were “pushing for no reason” given reliability concerns. Horner said he understands why Perez is concerned.
“When you’re the lead car, it’s always going to be,” he said. “You always want to know that the tail car hit the target first. I think you were concerned if there were reliability issues, how do you manage that?
“Once we made sure the data was okay, it was a matter of getting them to do it, and basically we both managed the last five laps.”
He revealed that the drivers were free to race: “The only discussion about managing the pace was when driveshaft problems were rampant.
“At that point I think we’ll be fine. Let’s turn down both cars. But as soon as it became clear that we couldn’t see anything in the data, we released the cars again.”
Horner said the team was happy to let Verstappen push for the fastest lap at the end of the race.
“Well, I think we’ve come to the conclusion that it’s the last lap. If he goes, he will.”
“So I think he had already come to that conclusion. Both drivers had the information. Czech had the fastest lap at the time. He asked what it was.
“So it was clear why he asked. He knew Max was going to crack it. And Czech gave it up after the first few turns. Then go back.”
“Obviously the team’s interest is to maximize points and when they feel there may be reliability issues, it’s natural to manage it.”
“Inevitably, I think Max said on the radio that the fastest lap points meant a lot to him, so there was no reason not to let him or Czech try.
