Horner on Portuguese Grand Prix: 'Max drove the wheels off the car again today'

Published on 02 May 2021 by Julien Lemmen

It looked like the circuit of Portimão didn’t really suit the Red Bull Racing RB16B, but despite that, the team from Milton Keynes can be satisfied with second place for Max Verstappen and fourth place for Sergio Perez in the Portuguese Grand Prix.

Red Bull Racing team principal Christian Horner reflects after the race: “Looking at today we can see that this championship is going to be a marathon and not a sprint. It’s so tight and it’s going to be all about marginal gains. Max drove the wheels off the car again today, snatching second from Mercedes and it’s super tight between him and Lewis. With Max, it was frustrating to lose the point for Fastest Lap at the end of the race due to track limits which I think we agree need to be consistent throughout the race weekend. Similarly with Sergio, he lost out to a case of track limits when he was overtaken by the McLaren but once he got back past, his race pace was good so he is definitely getting there and the races are coming together for him. In clean air his pace was matching that of the leaders so I’m pleased with the progress he is making."

Horner continues: "On the whole, second and fourth place means plenty of points and there’s only eight separating Max and Lewis in the championship. Barcelona next week will be the benchmark and we’ll get our heads down until then when hopefully we get a clearer picture of the strengths and weaknesses of all the cars.”