F1 Miami Grand Prix: Christian Horner admits giving Red Bull driver 'WORSE' race strategy

Verstappen, Red Bull, Miami, 2023 — Photo: © LAT Images

Christian Horner

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Horner admits giving Red Bull driver 'WORSE' race strategy

Red Bull went against their projected simulations and Verstappen still came out victorious

Joe Ellis

Monday 8 May 2023 20:12

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Red Bull chose to go against their projected simulations when choosing Max Verstappen's strategy for the F1 Miami Grand Prix, Christian Horner has revealed.

The Dutchman had to start down in ninth after a mistake on his first qualifying lap in Q3 and Charles Leclerc's crash left him without a lap time.

But he had too much pace in the RB19 and surged through to second on the hard tyres. He then bolted on the faster medium tyres and was only a second behind his team-mate Sergio Perez upon exiting the pit lane.

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The two-time world champion made light work of the Mexican and stormed into the distance to keep hold of the championship lead.

Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez brought home Red Bull's fourth one-two finish of 2023 in five races in Miami

Outstanding pace

Rather than follow the simulations, that suggested Verstappen would have been faster on mediums at the start, Red Bull opted to put him on the hards.

Horner insisted the strategy was almost irrelevant for Verstappen though, because he was so fast all weekend.

"Max, starting on the hard tyre there was more risk with that," said Horner. "Our simulations were telling us that it was actually a worse race, but where it potentially gained was if there was a safety car later in the race. His engineering team wanted to take that choice, and he made it work, without the safety car."

“The higher probably points score was actually for Max to start on the medium," he continued. "To be honest with you today, with the pace he had, I don’t think it would have mattered if he’d have started on the soft, medium, or hard.

"It made it an interesting race because he had to manage that tyre early on. His pace, as it has been all weekend, has just been outstanding. You’re always looking to improve. You can’t stand still, in all areas. There’s always something that we can improve on. You learn a lot at every Grand Prix and every situation.

"The team’s operating at such a high level. It’s not just what you see here, it’s everything going on behind the scenes, the support from back at the factory, and the way that the whole team’s operating is phenomenal."