Christian Horner praised his pupil's fantastic performance at the Austrian circuit and praised the rival's strength in the 2022 Formula 1 season
Red Bull took their fourth pole position of the season with Max Verstappen's flying lap in qualifying on Friday (7) at their home track, the Red Bull Ring. Taurine team boss Christian Horner praised the performance of the reigning world champion's pupil on the Austrian circuit.
"Getting pole was a great result for Max, he was faster in the last corner and that made all the difference. We saw three cars within a tenth of a second today, it was amazing," said the Austrian.
Christian tried to make an analysis about the rival Ferrari. He pointed out the team's strength on a braked track and with the crowd totally in Max's favor. "They are very strong, we saw that after [Carlos] Sainz's victory at Silverstone. To take pole in this scenario was extremely valuable for us," he spoke.
About the punishment of Sergio Pérez, who will start 13th after exceeding track limits, Horner criticized the decision of the commissioners, especially with the delay in making the penalty decision. "The penalty was very harsh and should have been resolved before Q3 so that we could improve performance at the end of the session.
Now it is solely up to the Mexican to move Red Bull forward on the grid for Sunday's race. "He will do his best tomorrow by starting 13th and that will put us in a better position," said the Red Bull boss.
Finally, Horner praised the atmosphere at the Red Bull Ring during qualifying for the sprint race, but made an unusual request: that the fans respect the Taurinos' opponents. "It's great to be back in Austria, the team loves racing here and the support we get is amazing, the passion is great, but it shouldn't turn into booing our opponents," he added.
GRANDE PRÊMIO follows LIVE and INREAL TIME all the activities of the weekend's Austrian F1 GP. On Saturday, the second free practice session opens the day at 7:30am (GMT-3). The sprint race starts at 11:30am.