Spanish Grand Prix – Red Bull boss Christian Horner has revealed that Max Verstappen hadn’t actually been called in for his stop during the Spanish Grand Prix.
The Red Bull driver came into the pits on Lap 24 with Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton close behind in the battle for the lead. However, Verstappen’s stop was considerably slower than usual and was stationary for over four seconds.
The team weren’t ready for the driver and Horner explained that the team hadn’t called him into the pits for his stop.
“Fortunately, we were gearing up for the stop but then Max just comes in to the pit lane and we hadn’t actually called him in at that point,” said Horner to Sky Sports.
“So quick reactions, from the pit wall, from his race engineer, from the pit crew to get that turned around without losing more time.
“I think [it was] a four second stop so they recovered incredibly well to get that turned around on that short notice.”
Verstappen was unable to keep Hamilton behind and ultimately finished second, however the Dutchman did come into the pits for softs and scored a bonus point for fastest lap. 14 points now separates the Championship contenders in the standings after four rounds.
