Sergio Perez's strategy defended by Christian Horner

Christian Horner predicted that Sergio Perez could have been ahead of Charles Leclerc under certain conditions while defending the team's decision at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

Horner feels that while Perez was stuck behind Lewis Hamilton when he started his last stint, he lost a lot of time, which is why he wasn't able to battle with Leclerc. He 'maybe' could have done it if it wasn't for the Mercedes, the team's principal believes. He told RacingNews365.com:

"Maybe if he'd managed to make it past Hamilton [quicker], you know, the ifs, buts or maybes. There was a couple of back markers that didn't help. But it was so close."

Sergio Perez went head-to-head with Leclerc for second place in the championship in the final race of the season. Both drivers started on equal points but the Mexican had the upper hand as he qualified ahead. However, after Red Bull put him on a two-stop strategy, things went south for him. Leclerc decided to conserve his hard tires and stayed out and finished the race ahead of him.

Horner seemed to defend the decision the team made. He believes that by the time the first stint would have ended (on a 1-stop), Perez would have been like a 'dying fly'. That is why they tried to put him on fresh tires and fight his way back.

Horner said:

"We were faced with the prospect of either being a dying fly at the end of the stint, or to try and attack. We chose to try and attack, and I think with another lap he would have been there."

---

Horner explains Sergio Perez's struggle with the front right tire

During the race, Sergio Perez complained on the team radio about the degradation of his front right tire. Horner stated that this was why they had to call him into the pits for a tire change. Perez, like most of the grid, started on mediums and then was put on hards after his first stop. Interestingly enough, he was given another set of hards the second time.

Horner said:

"I think Checo [Perez] just took a bit more out of the front right tyre. You could hear him on the radio saying that the front [tyre] was dead and we could see that Ferrari were gearing up for an undercut."

After Sergio Perez was right behind Leclerc, the gap between the two cars was still big enough. However, during the final laps, Perez gained almost a second on the Ferrari every lap. However, that didn't quite help him to the checkered flag as he could only finish P3; both in the race and the championship.