Red Bull boss Christian Horner has revealed that the team running a “reserve crew” contributed to Max Verstappen’s slow pit stop in Formula 1‘s Japanese Grand Prix.
Verstappen repelled late-race pressure from the chasing McLaren duo to translate a mesmerising pole position lap into a well-earned return to the top step at Suzuka.
But while he was faultless, Red Bull almost squandered the win on Lap 22 when the team spurned an entire second to McLaren and Lando Norris during the pit stops.
The time loss granted Norris the impetus to accelerate alongside Verstappen as he departed his pit box, but the grass halted his momentum and he remained behind.
McLaren appeared to have been attempting to draw Red Bull into an earlier pit stop as the team’s mechanics were prepared to service Norris but then retreated again.
However, Horner has insisted McLaren’s action didn’t cause Red Bull to get caught in two minds as it was conscious that a premature stop would’ve been detrimental.
“I think it was clear that pit stops were approaching,” Horner detailed to media including Motorsport Week. “McLaren elected to pit Oscar [Piastri] first.
“But prior to that they called a dummy [on Lap 18] with Lando that really to us didn’t make any sense because [he] would just come out in traffic.
“So we stuck to our guns, we didn’t react to the dummy.
“They then pitted Oscar and it was clear that they were going to pit Lando the following lap. So it was then a matter of covering Lando.
“We didn’t have a totally clean pit stop, we [have] got a reserve crew, with two members missing this weekend.
“Lando got close at the pit exit but he never looked alongside or anything like that.
“And thereafter, on the Hard tyre for 30 odd laps, Max had the pace to cover whatever McLaren could throw at us.
“At different times, one minute was Lando, the next minute Oscar looked very quick. But as you can see, overtaking throughout the field was almost negligible.”
With overtaking proving limited, Norris pondered whether a McLaren gamble on an earlier stop could have handed him the opening he required to seize track position.
Asked whether McLaren could have passed Verstappen with an undercut, Horner said: “The undercut was reasonably powerful. Could have, should have, would have.”
How Red Bull’s slow stop had a lasting impact on Verstappen
The trouble Red Bull encountered servicing Verstappen during his sole pit stop also meant it was unable to execute the tweak to the front wing that had been ordered.
But while that induced added understeer on the Dutchman’s RB21 as his second stint started, Red Bull managed to impose countermeasures to mitigate the problem.
“We didn’t get the front wing adjustment that we wanted into the car,” Horner explained.
“So instead of cranking on a bit more front wing for the Hard tyre, we didn’t get the adjustment that we wanted.
“So that provoked quite a bit more understeer into the car than would have been ideal.
“But with the performance engineer and engineering team tweaking away at the tools, they were able to help Max compensate a little bit for it.”
READ MORE – Max Verstappen: Red Bull still not able to win consistently despite shock Japan F1 victory
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