Red Bull boss Christian Horner praised Max Verstappen's level of performance after another victory in 2022 and lamented Sergio Pérez's new car problem
Red Bull claimed another victory with Max Verstappen on Sunday (19), when the reigning Formula 1 champion secured first place at the Canadian Grand Prix. Despite qualifying smoothly and leading almost the entire race, the Dutchman was under strong pressure from Carlos Sainz at the end and managed to hold on to the lead until the flag, earning praise from boss Christian Horner after the race.
"It was not at all comfortable in the last ten laps after the virtual safety-car," Horner admitted. "Max [Verstappen] couldn't get the distance to avoid the moving wing. Ferrari were very fast on the straight today, and they were able to attack the zebras to stay close," he explained.
Horner also revealed that Verstappen was unable to communicate with the team due to a radio problem, although he could hear what Red Bull was saying. Moreover, the Briton was keen to praise the performance of Sainz, who pushed Max to the limit and tried to force a mistake - which didn't come - until the last lap.
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"But he didn't make a single mistake. We lost communication with him: he could hear us, but we couldn't hear him," he said. "All credit to Carlos [Sainz] today. He really forced Max to the maximum. The strategy was not clear because we stopped early in the first VSC, we felt it was the best option," he pointed out.
"Then the next VSC came and Carlos got a 'free' stop as well," he lamented. "And that obviously ensured a beautiful scenario for the end of the race," he added.
The Red Bull boss celebrated the team's double lead in Formula One, ahead in both the Drivers' and Constructors' World Championships. Despite considering Verstappen's form as "the best of his life," Horner regretted not being able to see Sergio Pérez - who abandoned the race - among the top finishers and explained the problem experienced by the Mexican in his RB18.
"It's great to go to Silverstone leading both championships," he celebrated. "Max is in the best shape of his life and the team is doing a great job. It's disappointing not to have 'Czech' there [on the podium], I think there was a problem in the gearbox," he warned.
"We're going there [Silverstone] lit up and trying to fix what happened last year," Horner said, letting slip a certain grimace about the crash between Verstappen and Hamilton at the 2021 British GP. "We have seen the battle for the championship change a lot. He [Pérez] had a misfortune, the same amount of faults that Max had. We need to understand that and solve it," he assessed.
Finally, evaluating the strength of the competitors, Horner praised the pace achieved by Mercedes in Canada, although he warned that the characteristics of the track may have facilitated their performance. Regarding Ferrari, Christian has already warned that he expects to see new updates in the rival's cars and expects another tight battle in the next round, in England.
"Looking at the pure pace, I would say that like Barcelona, it's a good track for them. Mercedes' pace at the end of the race was very strong there as well. So that could be a factor," he acknowledged. "I heard that Ferrari will bring some upgrades for the [Silverstone] race as well. It's going to be an interesting race," he finished.