Max Verstappen and Christian Horner had a pretty good homecoming this year. Team Red Bull extended their streak to seven wins in nine races. But great for Horner, as he has won all the races so far. It is a great time to be the team principal of the team. Horner has been through all the tough times and successful times of the F1 team since its entry into the sport. Hence this time, Max Verstappen is looking to make a hat trick of driver’s championships. He is very much on his way to winning the season, as he has won seven already. But the Dutchman seems to be a bit lucky as well.
At first, along with Sergio Perez, Max gets to drive the fastest car on the grid at present. Later, in the Austrian Grand Prix, where eight drivers got penalties for violating the track limits, Max Verstappen was happily sitting at the top. He was 24 seconds faster than Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc, who finished at P2. Moreover, the other Red Bull driver, Perez, after a few races, made it to the podium. Other than the top three and a few more at the bottom half, there were eight drivers who dropped a place or two due to a few seconds deduction. When everything is going Max and Red Bull’s way, a new debate sparked around Verstappen deciding to pit at the end of the Austrian Grand Prix.
Why Did Max Verstappen Pit For Soft Tyres At The Very End Of The Austrian Grand Prix?
The Dutchman was looking for an extra point this time in Austria, and hence he needed to stop for an extra pit. Max Verstappen was looking to get the fastest lap, and that is why he needed soft tires at the very end of the race. However, Red Bull boss Christian Horner mentioned in the post-race interview that Verstappen wanted to change the old medium tires and get new fresh rubber in the later stage of the race.
Verstappen was anyway 23.7 seconds faster than Charles Leclerc. And he made an extra effort to make the pit stop error-free. Later, he got an advantage of a better grip and easily got the fastest lap time driving one second faster than anyone else who had the fastest lap time throughout the race. Hence nobody can deny the Dutchman’s dominance on the grid at present. But the competitiveness and ruthlessness of the table topper are admirable.
Christian Horner Talks About The Risk Element Of Pitting At The Fag End Of The Race?
The Red Bull Boss spoke about the pit stop in the post-race interview. As he mentioned, “There was a risk factor while trying to get the reward. At first, we thought it is better to cool the tires down. But Max felt the aging tires are worthless. Hence, we decided to take the risk.” He believes that they had time in hand to spare. So it is worth taking the risk to get the reward. Later, the whole team came together again to change the tires and prayed that Max Verstappen wouldn’t mess it up.
