Christian Horner This weekend we were on point

After another win for Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing head Christian Horner summed up the race weekend in Monaco.

Q: Did you have to be nervous in some stages of the race, or were you able to keep your cool?
Christian Horner: I was nervous from the start, from the moment the traffic lights came on. When everyone removed the thermal covers from the tires and we saw that a lot of people started on hard tires, we had to think. As the rain approached, the question was how long all these riders could stay on the track and how bad the degradation of the Medium rubber would be.

First of all it was necessary to start well, and Max succeeded, and then it was necessary to create a kind of gap to have an advantage over rivals in case the safety car appeared on the track. And then it was necessary to stay ahead and watch how the weather conditions change.

Q: It was clear that Max was genuinely happy after the finish, because it is known that winning in Monaco is very important for any racer. But does this joy transfer to you and the whole team?
Christian Horner: Certainly! All races count for the same number of points, but success in this Grand Prix means a little more to us than victories at other circuits. Here it is of particular importance, because this is a unique stage and every rider wants to add the victory in Monaco to his palmares.

Q: When it started to rain, it caused a lot of commotion and many people made mistakes. How did you manage to do everything right even in such a situation? Although, of course, by that time Max had an impressive advantage …
Christian Horner: Of course, it’s all about the well-coordinated actions of the engineer and rider, because they have to try to choose the right moment to switch to intermediate rubber. It looks like we did it a lap late, and if Fernando Alonso had gotten those tires right away it would have been harder for us and the pressure during our pit stop would have been higher.

Luckily he got another set of slicks just as it started to rain, and in that situation it was important for Max to avoid the extra risk and go to the pits.

When you’re in the lead, you can’t win anything, only lose. You just have to try and somehow predict the change in weather conditions, and we have people watching this, and we also look at the weather radar, how the crowd behaves in the stands, or people’s umbrellas open – and all this information must be brought together. Although, of course, the driver knows best what is happening on the track.

Q: Max and his race engineer showed an impressive report. When the slicks lost their effectiveness and made Max nervous, the engineer reassured him, urged him to be patient and make the right decisions…
Christian Horner: Max trusts his engineer completely, they have a unique relationship, they discuss everything openly and honestly, and Gianpiero Lambiase manages to contain his rider’s emotions and give him all the necessary information.

Q: It was noticed that Max was in an unusual emotional state both after qualifying and after the finish – is this because everything happens in Monaco? Or the fact that he really had to deal with strong opponents this weekend?
Christian Horner: You see, this weekend we were on the edge. We understood that in the first half of the season we will face the greatest difficulties on this track. This is due to its characteristics, the fact that the speeds are slow here and we thought our main rivals would be the Ferrari racers, but Fernando performed well all weekend.

Q: The Red Bull Racing drivers have won all six of their first grands prix this year, although it’s clear that Sergio Perez didn’t go well here. But what else can your team achieve?
Christian Horner: The team is doing very well right now. The weekend was of course unsuccessful for Sergio, but he will have the chance to recover in the next stage in Barcelona.