Horner: Verstappen “should never have been that close to Hamilton”

From Max Verstappen’s start to the botched pit stop, the Italian Grand Prix is one to forget for Red Bull. The collision between Lewis Hamilton and the Dutch driver stems from a series of errors by their respective teams.

As Daniel Ricciardo, in the lead, was the first to make a stop, Red Bull asked its driver to continue, but Verstappen’s car was not as fast as it was in Zandvoort. The next lap, the Dutchman finally headed to the pits, but his stop took too long. As a result, he spent 11 seconds in the pits, while Ricciardo and Leclerc overtook him. Then, it was Mercedes’ turn to miss the stop for the seven-time world champion. A 4-second stop that allowed the championship leader to come alongside him at the end of the long straight.

Christian Horner, the team principal of Red Bull, admitted that his driver should not have fought against Hamilton at the first corner. We had a difficult pit stop, we had an issue, so he was held up much longer than he should have been. He should never have been close to Lewis. And then, Hamilton actually had an issue. One problem leads to another. By insisting in the first two corners, Verstappen collided with his rival of the season, ending up in the gravel with him. The two drivers subsequently retired from the race.

« A human error

At the end of the race, the team director was questioned about the nature of the problem during Verstappen’s pit stop. It was a human error that the team is still investigating. It’s regrettable considering the team’s reputation for very fast pit stops. “It looked like an issue with the front-right. We seemingly had a human error. The wheel was ready to go, and the car was not released. Usually, the guys are phenomenal in the pit lane. Sunday, it didn’t go their way,” he explained. Despite the missed pit stop, Horner did not think his driver would be that close to Hamilton at the end of his lap. According to him, Mercedes should have been far ahead. “The most unfortunate thing is that it put us in a situation where we shouldn’t have been around Lewis. Mercedes then messed up with its driver. They should have been ahead, and with the issue, the two drivers were side by side,” Horner said.

Verstappen will start with a three-place grid penalty in Sochi. The driver is considered responsible for the collision with Hamilton. Even though he did not score any points during the race, just like his rival, he remains at the top of the drivers’ standings with a five-point lead.