Christian Horner praised the performance of both winner Sergio Pérez and number two Max Verstappen on Sunday after the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix. The Red Bull Racing team boss also made it clear that his drivers have the freedom to overtake each other.
“We have a fantastic car and our two excellent drivers can just race against each other. We made that clear before the start. We did tell them that they have to keep it tidy,” Horner said in conversation with Sky Sports.
“I think Sergio drove his best Grand Prix today. Especially after the safety car situation when he quickly ran out to a lead of five seconds and maintained that margin.”
Due to bad luck in qualifying – a broken drive shaft – Verstappen, unlike his teammate who started from pole position, was sentenced to a catch-up race. The two-time world champion performed this task excellently and advanced to second place. “Max is a real racer who keeps pushing. It is very special to go from fifteenth to second on a street circuit, but Pérez had made the gap.”
For example, there is no problem for Red Bull Racing for the time being, which also hit a double blow at the start of the season in Bahrain two weeks ago. Then Verstappen was the winner. “The team has delivered a fantastic car and this combined with excellent performances from the drivers has resulted in our best start to the season.”
In the final phase, the shock struck Horner for a while, because Verstappen expressed his concern about a noise from the powertrain. “Fortunately, the data showed that everything was in order.”
The Formula 1 season continues in two weeks with the Australian Grand Prix. Red Bull last triumphed there in 2011. Sebastian Vettel won the race at the time.
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