Red Bull Team Principal Christian Horner heaped praise on his squad after Daniel Ricciardo’s victory at Formula 1’s Chinese Grand Prix.
Red Bull’s victory came a week after it suffered a double retirement in Bahrain, and just 24 hours after its mechanics performed a rapid engine change on Ricciardo’s car that allowed him to partake in qualifying.
Red Bull also pulled off two double stops during the race, the latter instrumental in teeing up Ricciardo’s win, as he charged from sixth to grab the lead from Valtteri Bottas.
“To achieve our first victory of the year in China was the result of a fantastic team effort,” said Horner.
“A strong strategy and a great performance by the pit crew, who have done an amazing job all weekend particularly with the engine change on Daniel’s car; and Daniel drove an amazing race and fully deserved victory.
“His passes were exemplary and the strategy really came alive for us under the Safety Car.
“We made a late call to get both cars in and again the second double stop was clinically executed and they did an unbelievable job.”
Ricciardo’s win hauled Red Bull up to third in the Constructors’ Championship, but Max Verstappen squandered the chance for a larger haul of points after colliding with Sebastian Vettel.
“For Max the first part of the race was going very well for him, unfortunately he lost time on the outside of Lewis, dropped behind Daniel,” said Horner.
“When attempting a pass on Sebastian, he made contact resulting in a 10-second penalty which he has apologised for.
“He still managed to bring the car home in fifth; it is a result I am sure he will be frustrated with, but performance bodes well for the coming season.”
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