Red Bull F1 team principal Christian Horner believes the timing of the red flag was lucky for Mercedes and Lewis Hamilton at the Mexican Grand Prix. Hamilton changed hard early on lap 25 to undercut Carlos Sainz. Ferrari stayed out, trying to extend his first stint to complete a one-stop strategy.
However, just after Ferrari’s pit stop, Kevin Magnussen’s massive crash forced the race to be halted and a red flag was brought out. A red flag gave all teams the opportunity to change tires, and Mercedes fitted Hamilton’s car with mediums for the restart. Horner believes the two Ferraris would have beaten Hamilton had it not been for the mid-race stoppage. “They got into a one-stop strategy very early on, so we got a little bit lucky,” Horner told Viaplay. “I think they lost to Ferrari in the end,” Horner said. “But it’s true they had good speed and in terms of tire wear they did as well as we’ve seen them all year. Ferrari has admitted it was “afraid” to switch Charles Leclerc to medium tires at the restart. That would leave Max Verstappen vulnerable. “It completely crippled our race,” Horner added. “But the good thing at that moment was that Charles switched to hard tires like we did. We were worried that he would choose the medium compound.
2023-11-01 09:40:34
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