Horner explains why Perez put podium at risk with two-stopper

Sergio Perez missed out on the podium at the Qatar Grand Prix. Fernando Alonso eventually finished third, as the Mexican did not have enough laps left to get close to the Alpine. Christian Horner explains the team's strategy.

It was a missed opportunity for Red Bull Racing to get a double podium, but the team still managed to take a lot of points off Mercedes. In the Constructors' Championship, Red Bull is only five points behind the German team.

This is mainly due to the retirement of Valtteri Bottas. The Finn suffered a tyre blowout during the race and had to park his car in the garage. Red Bull team principal Horner explains that this was the deciding factor in Perez's second pit stop.

"Our problem was we felt it was too much risk to run a one-stop with Checo particularly after what we saw with Valtteri. So that’s why we elected to convert or choose to stop", Horner is quoted on PlanetF1.com.

In the final laps of the race, a virtual safety car was deployed as Nicholas Latifi had parked his Williams along the track. This prevented Perez from continuing his pursuit of Alonso. "I think without the VSC, we would have been right with him on the last lap", Horner ends.