Horner saw Mercedes victory coming for a while

Red Bull Racing did not have a great day in Brazil. Max Verstappen finished fourth and struggled on mediums. Sergio Perez also lacked the speed to fight his way into front places.

Afterwards, team boss Christian Horner spoke to Sky Sports. He indicated that the expectation was that the red tyre's lifespan was limited and therefore Verstappen had to start on the mediums. "We felt that the soft was limited in range. So, we took the decision to start on the medium to survive the first 12 laps and the second half of the race would become more comfortable. They survived the first half of the race and we ended up having the worst deg then softs. So, Mercedes had a really quick car today and we couldn't hold them off."

Development

For Horner, Mercedes' win did not come as a surprise. "They have been heavily developing the car through the course of this season, and we seen significant steps throughout the year and they have been getting closer and closer. George done a great job then and the soft would have been better today. We take an extra set of soft in tomorrow. So, what we lost today we could strategically gain back tomorrow."