“It’s really strange”: Red Bull happy with its result at Silverstone
Once again beaten fair and square this weekend, the Red Bull team remains nonetheless satisfied with the result obtained with Verstappen's second place, considering that they have perfectly managed the strategy despite unpredictable weather during the race.
« It’s really strange ». Those were the words of Christian Horner about the Silverstone race that took place this Sunday. The Red Bull team principal is struggling to analyze what really happened, especially in terms of the pace of each car at the front.
« It’s really bizarre. I think at one point, McLaren seemed to be the fastest car on the track, then it was Mercedes, and I think these tires are so sensitive to temperature that at one point, you are the fastest car on the track, the next minute, you are nowhere, and it balanced out when it got drier, but it was quite confusing. » analyzed the Red Bull team principal.
The weather conditions made the Grand Prix unpredictable, with changes in position and pace for each driver from one lap to the next. While Mercedes seemed to have control of the Grand Prix, the arrival of rain allowed McLaren to catch up with the two Britons from Mercedes and set a very high pace that no other driver could follow. In the final laps, as the track dried, it was Max Verstappen’s Red Bull that seemed the fastest, finishing only 1.5 seconds behind the winner Hamilton.
An imbroglio that still offered the Austrian team 18 extra points, thanks to a strategy once again skillfully led by the entire team according to Christian Horner. The Briton doesn’t skimp on praise for it: « I think it’s the way the pit wall and the car work together. Max obviously feels what’s going on, but the pit wall has more information than him. So it shares this information and makes the right decisions at the right time. And I think today, we succeeded ».
It was an exciting race, with a moment where we felt out of the race and the next moment, we were back in the race. We made the right strategic decisions, especially when we switched to intermediate tires, slicks, and then hard tires, which were all the right choices.
A result that gives hope for the rest of the season
« I think it will be tight for the rest of the year. I mean, in the cooler temperatures, Mercedes have always been strong, and listen, congratulations to Lewis for finally winning a big race for him at the British Grand Prix after three years. » In parallel, the director of Red Bull acknowledges the work done by Mercedes, which has just won the last two races and is now also in the fight for victory. For Red Bull, there is therefore no more margin for error, and the team must find solutions, especially with its second driver, or risk seeing other teams catch up to it.
