Red Bull’s Christian Horner says Max Verstappen’s win over Land Norris in the Sao Paulo GP took the form of a “cat and mouse” game with the McLaren driver as the Dutchman pushed to build his lead while also managing his tyres.
Verstappen was crucially able to hold his own into the first corner on the race’s restart while Norris and Lewis Hamilton battled for position behind, with the McLaren gaining the upper hand over the Mercedes.
Although the Red Bull charger managed to put some air between himself and his pursuer, Norris was able to reel in his rival on lap 8 and even snap at his heels.
But the McLaren driver’s attack was short lived, which allowed Verstappen to break loose and manage his race without any further complications, the three-time world champion crossing the checkered flag with an 8-second buffer over Norris.
While the Dutchman’s 52nd career in F1 seemed cut and dried from the outside, Horner insisted it had been a savvy managed race by both team and driver.
“I think there was definitely a race,” Horner said. “Lando took his best set of tyres at the start and his best shot was probably off the line.
“So, I was relieved to see Max keep the lead at the end of the first lap.
“But then it becomes a game of cat and mouse, because it's about looking after the tyres and not stressing them too much. You are telling the driver look after the tyres, but pull out a gap - and the tow here is pretty powerful.
“But just like in the sprint, Max managed it incredibly well and was able to start to pull a gap. We then pitted on the same lap as Lando, and we actually extended the lead through the pitstop to just over five seconds.
“Then, on the medium [tyre], he had everything under control in the last stint. In the end it was reasonably straightforward, but McLaren definitely have been, over the last few races, our closest competitor.”
Verstappen echoed Horner’s comments, suggesting that he was definitely working overtime in the cockpit of his RB19 as he felt Norris breathing down his neck.
“Maybe it looks fully easy from the outside, but I think for most of every stint, Lando was matching my lap times,” said the Dutchman.
“It was always like the last five to ten laps [of a stint) when it seemed like we had better tyre deg. But yeah, the beginning of every stint, I definitely had to focus a lot and I couldn’t afford to make mistakes.
“And around here with the high deg as well, it’s not the easiest to drive. It’s not like you can just relax and let the car just roll into the corners without any consequence.
“You had to be really on it. Luckily, everything we did today, also strategy-wise, pit stops, were good. So, very happy about that.”
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