Red Bull's Max Verstappen has openly admitted it was his decision to pit for the intermediate tyres as the inclement weather arrived during the German Grand Prix.
In the latter stages of the race, heavy rain began to fall at the Turn 6 hairpin and many drivers were beginning to struggle, however, the shower was very isolated at that part of the circuit while the rest of the track was still dry.
GERMAN GRAND PRIX: Photo gallery | Championship standings
With a large gap back to the Haas of Kevin Magnussen, Verstappen came into the pits and made the switch to the intermediates on lap 46 but after just three laps came back in for slicks as the shower had passed on and the track was drying rapidly.
"After such a chaotic race I think finishing fourth is a good result and the car felt strong throughout the race," said Verstappen.
"It was a hard day for decision making due to the late changes in the weather. I had a small slide at Turn 6 when it first started to rain so I decided to pit for Intermediates.
"As soon as I came out of the pits and got to Turn 6 it was dry again. I knew it was not going to work, it could have done but unfortunately, it didn’t continue raining enough.
"Sometimes these decisions work for you, sometimes not as we experienced today."
Team boss Christian Horner backed up his driver's decision to take the gamble due to having a sizeable gap back to the cars behind them which meant taking a risk was a viable option in their strategy.
“Max had a good start and was able to challenge Kimi on the opening laps," added Horner. "Things quickly settled down as the tyres were going to be a crucial factor in the overall race strategy.
"Max was on 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."
Red Bull remains a lonely third in the Constructors' Championship 91 points behind Ferrari, Max Verstappen moves to just within one point of team-mate Daniel Ricciardo in the Driver's Standings.
Discussion about this post