(Motorsports news) Two downpours interrupted the Dutch Grand Prix, the second of which resulted in a red flag owing to significant aquaplaning into Turn 1 and an accident involving Zhou Guanyu of Alfa Romeo. At the beginning of the lap 62 deluge, Verstappen wasn’t completely certain about stopping for intermediates, but his race engineer Gianpiero Lambiase urged him that “it would be a good time to pit” as the track conditions were rapidly deteriorating.
After then, team president Horner claims that he made the decision to bring in his driver to be safe. “We weren’t entirely sure what the weather would bring; would there be a few places or would it blow through?, said Horner. Finally, I was yelling at GP to “get him in!” On a day when teams like Mercedes, McLaren, and Williams failed to execute their strategies, Horner claims that his team’s success was a combination of luck and risk management.
“I think it’s a combination of the two,” he continued. There were so many potential pitfalls. We observed calls being made early on when cars entered or left contention. However, the crew has performed well on all eight of our pit stops today, with the exception of the one that Checo [Perez] gave us only a few seconds’ notice for. So, the team’s performance was amazing.
When the first raindrop fell during the start, Perez, who was running in eighth place, quickly decided to pit, while Verstappen delayed his decision and handed the lead to his teammate. When Perez switched back to slicks 10 laps later, Verstappen pounced on him, a move that confused the Mexican at the moment.
Upon switching back to slick tires ten laps later, Verstappen passed Perez, reversing the roles in an action that at the time baffled the Mexican driver. As Perez was in the lead, Verstappen was at risk of being undercut by Fernando Alonso of Aston Martin and other drivers, according to Horner.
Max’s pace as he came through the field was such that, in my estimation, at one point, he knocked seven seconds out of him in just three laps and he was coming very, very quickly, according to Horner. “Checo had the target of pulling a gap on the cars behind him, but Max’s pace as he came through the field was such that I think at one point he took seven seconds out of him in just three laps,”
According to Horner, the decision was made because Verstappen was open to an undercut attempt by Fernando Alonso of Aston Martin and other drivers when Perez was in the lead. “Checo had the goal of closing the distance between himself and the cars behind him, but Max’s pace as he came through the field was such that I think at one point he took seven seconds out of him in three laps and he was coming very, very fast,” Horner said.
Also read: Perez will race for Red Bull in Formula 1 in 2024, according to Horner
