With Max Verstappen starting 10th on the grid following an engine problem in qualifying, and with team-mate Sergio Perez starting one place further back, Red Bull ‘s simulations had shown that the best tactic to achieve a good result was to have a long first stint on the hard tyres .
But the problems that both drivers had to find temperature in the tires even with the soft tire that they had mounted in their previous laps to the formation of the grid, led Red Bull to scrap their initial idea.
That turned out to be a very important move, as the difficulties several rivals – including Charles Leclerc – had with the hard showed that it would have doomed Red Bull to a very difficult opening stint of the race, rather than attacking on the soft as they did to advance the pack at the start, which ultimately proved key to Verstappen’s victory.
“Our strategy went out the window after the laps on the grid,” Verstappen explained. “We had to change it and make a new one. But I don’t think that will be very difficult for the team – they are very flexible and they know what they are doing.”
Red Bull team principal Christian Horner acknowledged that, knowing how difficult things had been for the drivers in the laps leading up to the grid, it would have been “ridiculous” to stick with his original plan.
“We were going to start the race on the hard tire because, based on the data, it looked like our best race,” he explained.
“But the drivers were struggling to build up temperature on the soft tire on the way to the grid. And it seemed ridiculous to start the race on a hard tyre, especially in the weather.”
“We switched both drivers to the soft tire on the starting grid, which required us to make two stops. But we’ve made it work, and it’s worked wonderfully.”
Verstappen agreed that it was not difficult at all to scrap the hard tire plan once it became clear how difficult it was going to be to get up to temperature on that tyre.
“I went out on the grid on the soft tires and I was already suffering from a lack of grip, so I was like, ‘No way are we going to start on the hard ones,'” he detailed.
“It’s also the team’s credit, because we, of course, planned the strategy around the hard tyre, and then it was like ‘okay, we changed it to the soft’.
“I’m really glad we did it because the hard tire was very, very difficult. And you could see with Charles and Carlos (with the mediums) they were slipping a lot.
Do you want to read our news before anyone else and for free? Follow us here on our Telegram channel and you won’t miss a thing. All the information, at your fingertips!
