Horner: "Strategy didn't go as planned"

12:09, 01 May 2018
0 Comments
Ricciardo driving into Verstappen certainly wasn't the plan for Red Bull, but team principal Christian Horner has revealed that the strategy of the Bulls wasn't working to begin with, crash aside.
After the dust settled (and after Horner settled down), he explained what the Red Bull tactics were during the race.
"Ricciardo was ahead of Max so we got him in first," he told Autosport.com.
"The guys had driven a long stint on the supers, which meant we could attack on the quick-heating ultra-softs.
"But Max's in-lap was way better, while Daniel was giving it his all in his out-lap.
ADVERTISEMENT
"That's why they met on the track, which wasn't the plan.
"Add to that that Daniels tyres were heating up faster, and that's why Daniel was so close to Max."
So, the idea was to let Ricciardo hunt for a podium place and to let Verstappen chase his teammate, as they were hoping for a late safety car.
"For the last quarter portion of the race we hoped on that, so we could benefit from the ultra-softs.
"What we didn't expect is that we would be the reason for the safety car..."
ADVERTISEMENT

Don’t miss GPblog in Google

Mark us as a preferred source and our articles will appear more often at the top of Top Stories.

Add as a preferred / source on Google
loading
Austrian Grand Prix
Overview
Upcoming race
Friday 26.06.26
Practice 1
Fri 11:30 AM
Practice 2
Fri 03:00 PM
Saturday 27.06.26
Practice 3
Sat 10:30 AM
Qualification
Sat 02:00 PM
Sunday 28.06.26
Race
Sun 01:00 PM

Loading