Red Bull weighing up McLaren "dilemma"

Italian Grand Prix

Red Bull weighing up McLaren "dilemma"

Verstappen and Ricciardo start on the front row

Ewan Gale

Saturday 11 September 2021 19:00

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Red Bull team principal Christian Horner has outlined the "dilemma" he faces with Daniel Ricciardo alongside Max Verstappen on the front row for the Italian Grand Prix.

Ricciardo jumped team-mate Lando Norris and a sluggish Lewis Hamilton at the start of the sprint, utilising the extra grip of the soft tyres to challenge Verstappen into turn one.

The Australian eventually finished third behind Verstappen, who will start on pole as sprint winner Valtteri Bottas lines up last on the grid due to engine penalties.

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Pointing to the alternate tyre strategy used by McLaren, Horner told Sky Sports F1: "The soft tyre worked pretty well for them so that is the dilemma.

"Everybody is going to be scratching their heads - do you go softs? Do you go mediums? That for sure is going to be a topic for the debrief tonight.

"You know the soft tyre at the start is worth about four metres so if they are on the front row on a soft tyre, why wouldn't they?

"That is something we are going to have to consider. I am sure Mercedes have the same dilemma and it will be interesting to see what tyres people bolt-on on the grid tomorrow."

Horner enthused by Hamilton's overtaking struggles

Red Bull entered the weekend seeking to limit the damage in both championships to Mercedes at what is deemed to be a circuit suited to the Silver Arrows.

With Hamilton dropping places off the line in the sprint, the Briton failed to make up for the issue other than with AlphaTauri's Pierre Gasly crashing out at Curva Grande, offering promise to Horner.

"When they are running sustainably, they are harvesting a lot - what we call clipping - so at the end of the straights, you see the rear light flashing and that kills your straight-line speed," explained Horner.

"You could see Lewis getting within half a second which is usually an overtake but just running out of momentum at the end of the straight.

"That is good news for tomorrow because they won't be able to attack too hard at the end of the straights because they have got this harvesting going on."