Max Verstappen Credits Red Bull Team for Right Calls in British Grand Prix
Reigning Formula 1 World Champion Max Verstappen credited his Red Bull team for making the right decisions during the British Grand Prix, which elevated him to a second-place finish on what could have been a “really bad afternoon.” Verstappen initially struggled, falling behind both McLarens and into the clutches of Carlos Sainz’s Ferrari as rain started to fall during the opening stint. However, Red Bull’s strategic prowess came into play, pitting Verstappen on intermediate tyres during the first round of stops, which allowed him to pass George Russell and Oscar Piastri.
The team then made a crucial call, pitting Verstappen on the hard tyre for the final stint, one lap ahead of Lando Norris, who switched to softs. This tyre advantage enabled Verstappen to pass Norris with a handful of laps to go and chase Lewis Hamilton close in the final moments of the 52-lap GP.
“By making the right calls today, we were there at the right time and to the end with the hot tyre that was the right call for definitely,” he emphasized.
Verstappen acknowledged that pushing the hard tyre “was the best” Red Bull could do, given that they were initially looking at a potential fifth or sixth-place finish. “So yeah, on a poor afternoon, I would say in terms of performance to be second, I take that,” he said.
The British Grand Prix result marked a stark contrast to the previous week’s Austrian Grand Prix, where Verstappen lamented Red Bull’s strategy, feeling that they didn’t allow him to take his final stop earlier. At Silverstone, however, Verstappen and his team were on the same page, with the Dutchman crediting his engineer Gianpiero Lambiasse for their collaborative effort.
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