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Red Bull lead driver Max Verstappen clinched his first win of the season against Charles Leclerc at the Saudi Arabian GP. The involved an intense battle between the Red Bull and the Ferrari driver as the two battled it out for the lead in the race.
Reflecting back on the race, Red Bull boss Christian Horner was not entirely happy with the placement of the DRS zone on the track as it turned the fight for the lead into a game of cat and mouse. Talking to the media after the race, he said:
“The DRS is so powerful [and] you could see that there was a game of cat and mouse going on between the drivers where they would break to a point where they accelerated into the corner. I think that maybe we should look at where that DRS detection is for future years because you definitely want to avoid being in that situation.”
Speaking about the Red Bull driver as well, Horner had nothing but praise for Verstappen who looked after the tires while chasing Leclerc and then in the end, after the VSC period, he was able to make use of them.
“I thought it was a very mature drive by Max. He looked after the tyres during the race, he made sure he had got tyres left to him at the end of the grand prix and he worked things out."
Horner added:
“There was a bit of cat and mouse going on at the DRS line but then he worked out where he needed to be and nailed the pass and then just had enough to hold Charles off.”
The battle between Charles Leclerc and Max Verstappen was in a stalemate, with the gap hovering around 1 to 1.5 secs throughout the race. It was, however, after the VSC period that the Red Bull driver was able to close the gap and be within 1 second of Leclerc to make the battle far more interesting.
Red Bull still third in the championship standing
Team RB finds itself third in the standings behind Mercedes. Part of it is due to what happened at the Bahrain GP where both drivers had to retire from the race. The team will be looking to close the gap in the upcoming race in Australia.
