Red Bull's 'glass half full' after Lewis Hamilton qualifying woes - Christian Horner

Max Verstappen during free pratice on Saturday in Monaco — Photo: © LAT Images

Monaco Grand Prix

Red Bull's 'glass half full' after Hamilton qualifying woes - Horner

Verstappen was denied a shot at pole by red flags but starts five positions ahead of Hamilton in Monaco

Ewan Gale

Saturday 22 May 2021 20:30

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Red Bull team principal Christian Horner has preached a "glass half full" mentality after Max Verstappen was denied a shot at pole for the Monaco Grand Prix.

Verstappen was ahead on the time needed to take away the top spot from Charles Leclerc before his run was curtailed by the Ferrari driver's crash at the exit of the swimming pool complex, bringing out the red flags.

Horner remained philosophical about the session, however, after Verstappen's title rival Lewis Hamilton qualified only seventh in his Mercedes.

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"It is one of those things," Horner told Sky Sports F1. "The red flag at the end of the session just as it was crescendoing.

"Max had really hooked it up on that last lap. On the data he was two and a half tenths up when he had to abort, that's why he was so frustrated but a front row here and our main rival in P7, that's not a bad afternoon.

"The immediate disappointment is that we should have got that last lap because to get pole here, you know how important that is. There is that frustration but you have to look at the glass half full rather than glass half empty."

Verstappen's team-mate Sergio Perez, who is still settling in after joining Red Bull this year, endured yet another difficult session, encountering traffic and struggling for balance on his way to a disappointing ninth on the grid.

"He had a really messy Q3," explained Horner. "He had traffic and got frustrated with a whole bunch of traffic ahead of him. In fairness, it is tough around here for them to just disappear but it is frustrating so he is going to have a busy afternoon."