Christian Horner: 'It didn't pay off this time'

Published on 22 July 2018 by Johan Peeters

Christian Horner, Team Principal of Red Bull Racing says after the race in Germany: “Max had a good start and was able to challenge Kimi on the opening laps. Things quickly settled down as the tires were going to be a crucial factor in the overall race strategy. Meanwhile, Daniel was making good progress from the back of the grid after incurring his engine penalties. At that point, there was a threat of rain but it was difficult to predict exactly when it would come. Unfortunately, on lap 29 Daniel’s engine failed, which is particularly disappointing alongside the penalties that he had already incurred.”

“Max was on a one stop strategy running in P4, it started to rain and with a couple of cars running wide, including Max, we decided to take a gamble and pit him for the Intermediate tyre. Unfortunately, it didn’t rain enough and the inter tyre got burnt up so Max had to pit again for the Soft tyre. From the position we were in with no threat from behind, the gamble was worth taking but it didn’t pay off this time. The Safety Car then bunched the field up meaning that Max crossed the line in fourth which is about where we were on pace today.”