Horner: 'Max will hopefully pick up a tow into turn one'

Published on 10 September 2021 by Niels Hendrix

Looking back at the Friday qualifying in Monza, where Max Verstappen took third place and Sergio Perez ninth, Christian Horner says: “That’s a good team result, Checo has played a key role today. He did a great job giving Max the tow and allowing him the benefit of a hole in the air, it probably cost Checo half-a-second, and he should have been higher than where he is. So we are pretty happy with where we have finished. The sprint race tomorrow is going to be exciting and then of course we’ll see what happens in the race on Sunday. Max is on the right side of the grid tomorrow and will hopefully pick up a tow into turn one, so it’s going to make it a really exciting start, for what is effectively qualifying.”

The Red Bull Racing team principal adds: “The announcement has come out that Bottas has taken the engine penalty, so we know he’ll be at the back of the grid on Sunday, and we just have to see how the sprint race pans out. When a championship is so tight, and the gains are so marginal it’s about grabbing every point that you can. We’ve had a couple of good weeks in this triple header so far, so it’s important that we close off this stage with the momentum that we have built.”

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