Christian Horner has explained why Red Bull dropped Sergio Pérez after his clash with George Russell in Austria. The Red Bull boss revealed the damage to the RB18 was too bad for there to be any point in running it, as the Mexican conceded between one and two seconds per lap.
“Unfortunately our results in overtaking the Mercedes on the outside of Turn 4 were not particularly stellar” joked Horner in reference to the clash between Lewis Hamilton and Alex Albon in 2020 at the same location.
“But yeah, unfortunately the damage was quite extensive. There was a lot of damage on the floor and by then he probably would have finished maybe even two laps down, so it didn’t matter. sense of adding unnecessary mileage to the car.”
Horner thinks Pérez was right to attempt this attack, despite the risks it entailed: “I think he had a really good exit from Turn 3. The race drivers have to get going. Obviously on the outside of Turn 4 you rely a lot on the guy on the inside, who has to play the game and give you space.”
Horner is happy with the situation in the championships after this costly incident, which was limited by the withdrawal of Carlos Sainz from the side of Ferrari: “We’re only halfway through the championship, and things are changing a lot. There’s still a very long way to go. It’s frustrating from a constructors’ perspective, and Ferrari has had its own problem.”
“So actually I would say this weekend was kind of damage limitation. We managed to get the pole, the Sprint win, and second place. Max was only down five points from Charles among the pilots, and the damage was relatively limited among the manufacturers.”