Red Bull Team Principal Christian Horner admits that he thought Max Verstappen wouldn't be able to pull off the win at the Formula 1 U.S. Grand Prix.
After Verstappen had conceded his first-place position inside the first lap of the race, Red Bull made an interesting call to catch out Mercedes and Lewis Hamilton. Both drivers were on similar two-stop strategies, however, on both occasions, Verstappen and Red Bull opted to pit before Hamilton to regain track position—though this didn't come without any cost.
Red Bull knew that due to their early stops Verstappen's pace would fall off towards the tail-end of the Grand Prix, leaving him susceptible to a late onslaught from Hamilton. To their relief, Max was able to fend off Hamilton in the dying stages of the race, and secured an important win for his championship aspirations—he now leads Hamilton by 10 points.
Chrisitan Horner stresses that tension within the Red Bull pit wall was overflowing during Hamilton's late charge towards Verstappen. Horner says that even he was shocked to see Verstappen pull off the victory at the Circuit of the Americas (COTA).
Via Formula 1:
“I really didn’t think he was going to pull that off, you know? Lewis, [on] eight-lap newer tyres, the first set of hards we pulled off were pretty much down to the canvas and I was thinking: ‘Wow, we’re not going to have much left at the end here’. But the way he managed that tyre through that last stint to make sure he had enough for the last five or six laps…”
The Red Bull team will certainly look forward to the upcoming Mexican Grand Prix. Sergio Perez will look to impress next weekend as he makes his return to his home country. Verstappen will also seek to build on his championship lead heading into the final 5 races of the Formula 1 season.
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