Christian Horner, Red Bull Formula 1 boss, claims his team perfection to perform “basic well” and “thinking on our feet” helped won the Monaco Grand Prix.
Sergio Perez started the race on the third place. But, he scored the outstanding win on the difficult streets of Monaco.
The Mexican beat the duo of Ferrari, Carlos Sainz and Charles Lecler, with a better strategy on the pit stops. The RB team called in Perez after running a complete lap on dry track, which helped him gain more gap. He then kept the lead and then carefully managed his tyres to victory.
Max Verstappen, Mexican team mate, started fourth on grip and managed to beat pole sitter, Leclerc, on the final lap.
Horner appreciated his team for responding to the challenges in an agile manner.
“I’ve always prided ourselves on us being an attacking race team,” he said. “And we’ve always focused on trying to do the basics well, whether it’s strategy, whether it’s pitstops, thinking on your feet. I think today was all about thinking on your feet and reacting to the situation as it happens around you.
“And I think that the whole team responded brilliantly well. The drivers of course had to deliver their part.”
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Horner believes the Perez victory was the result of a strategic call over tyres.
“It was an incredible race,” he noted. “We knew there was some rain around. But I don’t think we expected it to be tropical, at the beginning of the race there. It was a little chaotic with the delays, tyres coming on the grid, off the grid, on the grid.
“But with the amount of rain that did fall, it would have been impossible to race in those conditions.
“So once the race finally did get underway. It was always going to be about the crossover, and getting that crossover right. We went obviously, from the extremes, the inters, to the slicks, and we got those calls right today.
“The pitwall did a great job, the strategists, particularly the guys in the pit lane, they had to turn around the double stops today and of course, Checo, his performance, on the in-lap, on the out-lap, particularly on the inter tyres, was stunning.
“And then likewise on the slicks, and then obviously he had to manage the rest of the end.”
