"Ferrari let us off the hook" - Red Bull's Christian Horner claims the Scuderia missed a 'free' stop during safety car period at 2022 F1 Miami GP

Red Bull team principal Christian Horner says he is “grateful” that Ferrari missed out on a chance to pit both their drivers during the late safety car period at the 2022 Miami GP.

Horner believes the Scuderia let his team off the hook by not pitting either Charles Leclerc or Carlos Sainz when the safety car came out. This ensured Max Verstappen’s eventual victory.

Speaking to formel1 following the Miami GP, Horner said:

"Ferrari let us off the hook a bit when the switch from the virtual to the full safety car took place. Max had already passed the pit lane, but the Ferraris could have made a 'free' stop but didn’t."

“I’m grateful they missed the chance, because I think if they had switched to the soft tyres, we wouldn't have finished first but third.”

Ferrari failed to react in time to pit either of their drivers during the safety car period and thereby did not benefit from a free pit stop. Meanwhile, Red Bull brought in Sergio Perez, who duly switched to soft tires.

However, owing to a reliability issue that had earlier cropped on Perez’s power unit, his car had less straight-line speed compared to the other front runners. He was, therefore, unable to make use of his fresh tires to overtake the Ferraris ahead of him.

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Max Verstappen's fightback at Miami following Friday woes draws praise from Red Bull boss

Christian Horner has praised Max Verstappen’s efforts at the inaugural Miami GP. The Dutchman overcame a lack of running during Friday practice to take a second consecutive victory of the season.

Speaking to formule1, Horner said:

"His start was fantastic. After that it was all about conserving the tires while he was putting pressure on Charles. Then the overtaking manoeuvre. And then controlling the race up to the safety car and after the restart the up break the very powerful DRS effect on this stretch and shake Charles out of the slipstream.

"Max managed all of that without making a mistake, and under pressure at that.”

Red Bull have had a less than ideal start to the season this year, with reliability issues preventing them from maximizing the potential of their car. While they seem to have found some fixes in recent races, the RB18 seems far from bulletproof unlike the Ferrari F1-75.