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Horner explains Red Bull hypersofts: "We have to overtake"

11:30, 10 Jun 2018

byNicolás Quarles van Ufford

Red Bull team principal Christian Horner has explained the teams' decision to start on the hyper soft tyres in the Canadian Grand Prix rather than the ultra softs like Ferrari and Mercedes.

Even though Max Verstappen had the best time in all three practice sessions in Canada, Horner knew that grabbing pole position would be very hard, as the Renault engine gets exposed in straight-line speed compared to its competitors. Verstappen will start from third.

"We've been quick all weekend and Max, in particular, was very quick," Horner told Formel1.

"We knew that pole would be very hard to get, so we'll have to be able to overtake during the race.

"We think that this is best possible on the hyper softs, so we had to do something different during Q2.

"Hopefully it will pay off during the race."

A bold choice by Red Bull that could either backfire or pay massive dividends. While the hyper softs are the quicker tyre, they also degrade way quicker than the ultra softs. The Bulls will have to attack early on and get a buffer with the cars around them for this to pay off.