Horner cursed Verstappen with bad luck ahead of US GP.
Red Bull team principal Christian Horner said the new track restrictions for the United States Grand Prix were “unfortunate” for Max Verstappen, who finished sixth in Sunday’s race.
The final lap times were canceled in the third quarter after the dominant Dutchman was penalized by the stewards for breaching the track limits.
The lap time was five thousandths of a second faster than Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc, but his exclusion meant the three-time world champion only finished sixth and Leclerc took his third pole position of the season.
Now Horner has commented that new track restrictions introduced after qualifying mean Verstappen will not be penalized for the same offense on Saturday.
According to the FIA, the white lines on the outside of turns 9, 12 and 19 will be extended to give drivers more space on the track.
The decision was made on Friday evening following discussions between the drivers and the teams.
“I think the issue was discussed between the drivers and the team managers in a meeting last night,” Horner told Sky Sports F1.
βThe white line is now more of a line than a line.
But it’s the same for everyone.
“Yesterday was bad.
Yesterday’s mistake didn’t happen on lap 19 and this put a lot of pressure on Max for the rest of the lap.
“This is.
Something to note about that lap yesterday is that Max had a bit of a lock in the first corner and lost two tenths.
He was strong and if you look at his speed in turn 19 he was about 5 or 6 kilometers faster than anything I’ve seen, so the margin is very good.
“He was following that station and was for a while.
If it hadn’t been for the white line or a wider band, we would have saved him. Look, there’s an even more exciting Grand Prix tomorrow.”
Verstappen’s unusual mistake
Not only did Verstappen go into lap 19, he also locked his tires at the top of the lap.
That explains why he pushed so hard in that corner.
In Saturday’s sprint exchanges, the Dutchman survived a 360-degree spin in his SQ2 that landed on the grass and destroyed a tire. He made a remarkable recovery to take the lead in the sprint shootouts and is still looking to win both races.
“I think when you get in the car, all you see is the top of the wheels.” continued Horner.
βSo you’re all on judgment and you don’t see the good, so basically you’re all on judgment and emotion, and the boundaries we’re talking about are so tight.
It’s really loud.
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