Horner: 'Start on mediums in Spain was the conservative choice'

Sergio Perez and Max Verstappen started on the yellow medium tyre in Spain. For Verstappen, who started from pole position, this seemed like a gamble. Team boss Christian Horner says it was on the contrary, it was the safe choice.

Verstappen started up front with Ferrari 's Carlos Sainz right behind him on the softer compound tyre. It therefore seemed a bold gamble by Red Bull to put the Dutchman on a harder tyre with less grip at the start. For a short while, it seemed to turn out wrong. Reaction time at the start was identical between Verstappen and Sainz and the Spaniard would then have the advantage on the softer tyre.

Verstappen and Sainz entered Turn 1 side by side, but the Red Bull driver let his car run as far out as possible and defended successfully. Horner told GPBlog and others after the race: "I think probably the most challenging part of the race for him was actually the start [...] And then really after that, he managed the race brilliantly well."

When Horner was asked if the team chose the medium tyre out of a sense of superiority and took a risk with the start on the medium tyre, the team boss said, " I think it was maybe a bit on the conservative side. We were concerned that the soft tyre would degrade quite quickly and could put you on the cusp of a three-stop. So, we were a little bit more conservative."