SPIELBERG, Austria – Christian Horner says Red Bull founder Dietrich Mateschitz’s mantra, “no risk, no fun” was imprinted in his mind as the team pitted Max Verstappen from position comfortable lead at the end of the Austrian Grand Prix.
Verstappen was 24 seconds ahead of Charles Leclerc and was on the verge of victory with two laps remaining when he asked Red Bull to stop for new tyres.
That claim was initially met with some feedback by Verstappen’s track engineer Gianpiero Lambiase – the average time lost during a standard pit-stop is around 20 seconds at the Red Bull Ring, meaning an error or failure try to bring victory to Ferrari.
Verstappen ended up pitted without drama and set up the fastest lap as he crossed the finish line, giving him extra points when offered the next round. with 25 for the win.
He finished just over five seconds ahead of Leclerc.
Later, when asked if the call felt like a risk, Verstappen said: “For me it didn’t! But as for the team, I think they were a bit more nervous.
“I saw the gap and I thought, ‘we have to go into the hole,’ I want to run the fastest lap when you get the chance and that’s what we did at the end.”
Red Bull team boss Horner said the call and the mainstream nature of Verstappen’s weekend were the perfect tribute to Mateschitz, who passed away aged 78 last October.
“Wonderful weekend from [Verstappen] and the first time we’ve been back here since Dietrich’s death, it feels very poignant to me that it was a great team performance today,” Horner said on Sunday night.
“We decided to run the fastest lap on the last lap, despite the risks involved with a pit stop. I’ve always kept his mantra in mind of ‘no risk, no fun’ and the odds are good. The mechanism works great. In the end it seems like a low-risk business.”
Lambiase’s radio message was the only one broadcast on F1’s world feed and there wasn’t any other context suggesting a disagreement over strategy, but it wasn’t.
Verstappen used that set of tires for 20 laps and was worried they might not finish.
Horner says that the driver feedback created two very possible alternatives.
“There was a discussion of risk versus reward because we thought it would be easier to cool down the tires and do it in an easier way than not stopping, of which there are 400 things that can happen,” said Horner. ,” said Horner.
“Max has made it quite clear in his opinion that the tire is broken! He’s pretty focused.
“Then you start looking at your risk, do we accept the risk of under-rated tyres? Or is it actually less risky to stop pitting and use soft tyres. In the end we said ‘take the risk’ and he still had three seconds left when he stepped out of the pit lane.
After confirming he had made the final call to stop, Horner said: “Obviously it’s a team sport but we have an effective chain of command to sign off on battle decisions. important strategy.
“You just have to weigh the risk versus the reward. GP has backed that. Jonathan Wheatley has backed that.
“So then it’s like it’s OK…don’t — it’s up!”
Verstappen’s win extended Red Bull’s unbeaten run this year to nine races. They have also won both sprints held so far in the season, including Saturday’s race at the Red Bull Ring.
Mateschitz, who grew up in the Styria region, where the circuit is located, bought it in 2011.
The venue returned to the F1 schedule in 2014.
Mateschitz was responsible for bringing Red Bull into the sport as his own team in 2005, while also purchasing another outfit to operate as the company’s junior team. That team is currently competing as AlphaTauri.
Horner added: “Coming on this lap this weekend, it’s just weird not having him with us. I think you feel his presence everywhere, whether it’s your hotel. in, the investment he made… I remember the joy he had in bringing this racing back to Austria and the passion he had for racing.
“Although his presence is not directly here, you can feel it everywhere. Hopefully when looking down at the race today, it will be the one he really enjoys. beast.”
Verstappen and Red Bull are both on their way to winning the championship.
Verstappen leads teammate Sergio Perez by 81 points, while Red Bull has 199 points ahead of Mercedes in the playmakers’ championship.
