Horner: I don’t think anyone in Miami can beat Max

Max Verstappen started ninth in Miami on Hard tyres, drove a long first stint, switched to Medium on lap 46 and overtook coxswain Sergio Pérez on lap 48. Red Bull Racing boss Christian Horner believes Max would have won the race with any other strategy – the defending champion was so quick on Sunday.

“I think if Max had followed a different strategy, given his speed, the result would have been the same,” Horner shared his opinion after the Miami Grand Prix. – Max was angry with himself after qualifying – first he made a mistake and then lost the chance to correct it. He went into the race full of confidence and wanted to try a strategy that was different from the rest.

On the evening before the start, we discussed different options for the strategy, made all the calculations, evaluated the pros and cons. Max and his engineers wanted to implement the strategy they ended up using. I told them if they want it then they should do it.

In Formula 1, ups and downs alternate. A week ago, Sergio was at his best, but I don’t think he’s very upset after Miami, as he earned 18 points. I don’t think anyone can beat Max today.”

Horner added that Pérez was unable to build up enough of a lead in the first stint of the race as he was forced to control wear on the right front tyre: “In the first ten laps he had to keep his pace very check carefully because he was bothered by the right front tire. We saw other teams start to granulate rubber, but Sergio managed well and saved the front right.

After ten laps he started attacking to put a gap. Now we already understand that Sergio should have attacked harder in the first stint as the Medium tires turned out to be very good. On the example of Fernando Alonso, we saw that it was possible to drive that set for a long time.